Ein abgeheftetes Lebenswerk
Henrike Naumann has published a monumental artist book titled "Concepts," weighing eight kilograms and encased in a mirrored stainless-steel German file folder. The 850-page volume contains 455 illustrations and compiles over a decade of her artistic research, including material samples such as a patterned Vorwerk carpet and a sheet of silver-gold speckled paper. The work is described as a personal and political legacy.
The book matters because it crystallizes Naumann's long-term investigation into the intersections of personal memory, German history, and political aesthetics. By presenting her research in the form of an official-looking file folder, she critiques bureaucratic systems and the archiving of cultural narratives. This publication solidifies her position as a conceptually rigorous artist who uses the book format as an extension of her artistic practice.