This book is the catalogue for the Iranian artist Navid Nuur’s exhibition FUNNELFLUX. It is part of a very conspicuous trend identified by this year’s panel: a representation of an exhibition, prepared in extreme haste, published while the exhibition was still running, and impossible to put together in advance because the artist was exhibiting works created for that specific location. We thought this an interesting development, not just because location, artist, designer, printer and binder all have to interact with one another far faster than is usual, but also because it means you can re-experience the intriguing exhibition sitting at home in your own easy chair. And with the extra inserted floor plan the exhibition is automatically documented.

Given the speed with which the book was put together, we can overlook the lack of a good editor who would have eliminated not only the widow but also the fact that – because of the absence of a title – it’s not exactly made easy to ‘get into’ the book. It’s a genuine picture book. Resolute and perhaps a little blunt, but certainly not an exercise in ticking boxes.

The thematics of Nuur’s playful work treats of the intervals, the so-called ‘in-between moments’ which he calls ‘interimodules’. He wrote the text included in the book himself, in a style that’s both playful and accessible, and it provides a nice introduction to his associative mindset. Thanks to the excellent picture editing we travel with the artist through his exhibition, in passing also taking in some relevant self-standing works, which are framed in white. In this way the book underlines the exhibition’s thematics. Funnelflux is a book that is like the artist himself: both only really reveal themselves if you give them the time. That’s neat.