It could be an anniversary.
Book design for Artachment Art Space Basel.

Es könnte ein Jubiläum sein. (It could be an anniversary.) 12 years of Artachment Art Space Basel – a story with 700 pages. The Basel exhibition space Artachment Art Space Basel condenses its history and all previous exhibitions from over 12 years in a high-quality anniversary publication. The review of the many projects with artists, curators and art institutions is at the same time a thank you to all parties involved. As a haptic archive, the book is a lasting presentation of the Artachment, effecting the present and the future. In addition, it is also a historical localization of the Basel port area and the Kleinhüningen district. The customs house, which is the Artachment today, was built in 1944 and survived the changes of the port. As a witness to the times, it stood silently for 76 years and got to know many people and their lives. Historical documents and interviews complete the book.

The design concept

The design concept is based on the architecture of the little customs house housing Artachment Art Space Basel. Thus, not only do the publications come in a wooden box representing the building, but the book itself also responds to it: the format and the white book cover that opens in the middle like a window. Through this window we see into the Artachment: white on the outside it lives on the inside, shimmering in all colors like the countless exhibitions that have taken place in it. When you open it, the first thing you see is the Peter Pan Project zine, which will continue this book in the future as a series of issues with its exhibition documentations and special contributions. Read more about the Peter Pan Project below. The chapter dividers also open like windows and introduce a color gradient that will continue to flow in the future Peter Pan Project, starting with yellow and to pink. 

The colorful pages of the directory chapter, which covers all the exhibitions of the aforementioned 12 years, also follow a color concept. The years are distinguished from each other by the strong tones and are visible in the section of the book.

The series

The Artachment has been exhibiting contemporary art in Basel since 2007. Under the name Es könnte ein Jubiläum sein. (It could be an anniversary.) the curatorship of the converted, former customs house organized an anniversary exhibition with Roman Signer and the artist duo Thylacine. In his performance, Roman Signer flew a drone armed with paint in the old customs house, which left its marks on the wooden ceiling. Thylacine simultaneously played on the outside space around the house and installed a pink shimmering cone of light that does not seem to illuminate anything in particular.

The exhibition concept of combining Swiss art students with international greats is continually pursued by the Artachment in the series The Peter Pan Project. The rule is, one person takes on the interior, while the other makes use of the outdoor space, i.e. the public space around the house, and includes it into their concept. Through the windows of the customs house, both works of art are spatially separated, but visually connected. We include the spatial situation in the graphics for the Peter Pan Project. One position is printed on the front of the transparent flyer, the other on the back. A limited edition with silk-screen print on glass is made for the artists. Adhesive film on the windows of the hut announces the respective exhibition: pasted on the inside as well as outside. In the general print media the reverse side is printed on the front also, using different colours. A lacquered background is reminiscent of the window glass and frames the typographic composition.

The zine

The indefinite exhibition series – hence the name Peter Pan Project – continues the book as a zine. The first issue is enclosed with the book and thematizes the exhibition of the same name Es könnte ein Jubiläum sein. with the collaboration of Roman Signer (Platz ist in der kleinsten Hütte. Für was? Zum Fliegen natürlich.) and Thylacine’s installation (Schein), which marked both the anniversary for the Artachment and the starting point for the Peter Pan Project. With a visit to Signer’s studio in St. Gallen and an interview with Thylacine, the zine bilingually complements the documentation of the works. The poster concept for the positions themselves was also realized in this context.
The images of the zine were photographed by Claude Gasser.