PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The visual artist Thomas Raat (b. Leiderdorp, Netherlands, 1979; lives and works in Amsterdam) studies how value is attached to certain materials, practices, and pictorial strategies. In paintings, sculptures, and design-adjacent practices, Raat brings an archaeologist’s perspective to bear on the question of how visual grammars can be perpetuated, revised, and manipulated over time.
Skeptical of the possibility of creating an entirely new work of art, Raat revisits the classics of modernism. His output raises questions concerning the interpretation of a work of art: what motivates artists to make a work, and how does the audience respond to it?

The concept of the book is based on the idea that you can look at Raat’s work in four different ways: pictorial, physical, objective, reflective. This results in four different paper types and four different grids to structure this narrative. Pictorial by showing the work isolated on a white background, physical as the work was shown in the context of an exhibition, reflective in three different essays by Hans Den Hartog Jager, Nick Hackworth and Robert van Altena and objective which shows the technical details of the work in the form of an index. Each way has a different materiality and printing technique. The book defines a new context wherein the work can manifest itself in different capacities. The purpose of the book is archiving the works all well as activating the work.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 8.46x11

Number of Pages: 320

Binding Method: Otabind

Paper: upm sol 80gr, Igepa, text, fc. Holmen trnd vintage 70gr, Igepa, text, bw. Rainbow Salmon 120gr, Igepa, text, 1 pms. Crush Kiwi 120gr, Igepa, text, bw.

Typefaces: Diatype

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director: Edwin van Gelder

Art Director: Edwin van Gelder

Book Designer: Edwin van Gelder

Jacket/Cover Designer: Edwin van Gelder

Illustrator:

Photographer: Peter Abrahams, Danielle van Ark, Tom Carter, Charlott Markus, Peter Tijhuis, Willem Vermaase, Benjamin van Witsen

Picture Editor: Thomas Raat, Edwin van Gelder

Production Director:

Production Coordinator:

Production Artist:

Other Credits: Translation: Caspar Wijers

Return to the Gallery