The books
2-3 Straßen TEXT & 2-3 Straßen MAKING OF
have now been published as e-books (www.2-3strassen.eu)
"There are six of us here
and this is the first entry, and we would like to tell the
world the following: ..."
If
Ulysses provides a portrait of a city and certain of its
inhabitants on one day, 2-3 Streets aims for a
portrait of a year in the lives of the inhabitants of several
cities, a reflection of their activities and feelings, of the
texture of the time and places.
Aidan Dunne,
Irish Times, 09.11.2010
78 people hit the road
from places such as Munich, Berlin, Moscow and Tokyo. Their
destination: ordinary streets in Dortmund, Duisburg and
Mülheim an der Ruhr. They came to change themselves.
And the streets on which they live.
887 authors wrote a book
together over a period of a year. New tenants and old
residents, guests and visitors to the streets – people from
all walks of life added their creativity to the ongoing text.
Over 10,000 contributions tell a story in 16 languages without
a breather. From topics dealing with humanity moving
seamlessly to indiscretion, from intimacy to self-criticism
and truisms, from debating politics to topicalities. Near and
far. The perspective is constantly changing. The text grows
and grows, is rugged like a manifestation and is boundless
like the present.
“Writing is overcoming
emptiness and thus is the epitome of change,“ (Ralf Georg
Czapla). Each author immerses himself alone in the bodiless
digital world; the empty page, and no one knowing what the
others are writing. Once the text is sent, it disappears into
a digital archive. “Of course, not every writer turns into
a Marcel Proust right away. Roll over Beethoven. The important
thing is that the whole of society produced this text“
(Ruedi Jörg-Fromm). The result of the work of so many people
is a book which has no precedent – created in a way that no
other book has ever been created. This book wrote
itself.
2-3 Straßen
MAKING OF outlines the process from the initial idea and
planning of 2-3 Streets, daily life on the three
streets and also includes reflections on the sustainability of
art and culture. The text alternates between inward- and
outward-looking perspectives. Essays, interviews, analyses,
quotations and a year full of pictures tell and convey an
experience. 2-3 Straßen MAKING OF is a book which
opposes the fixation on product consumption and the pressure
to be unique at all times. Creativity, as understood here, is
not the privilege of artists, but rather a renewable social
energy.
Writing brings change and
social change becomes literature.
2-3
Straßen TEXT and 2-3 Straßen MAKING OF as an
eBook
2-3 Straßen TEXT
(6.99 €) and 2-3 Straßen MAKING OF (2.99 €) can now
be purchased as eBooks from Amazon in the Kindle Shop for a
total of 9.98 €. Amazon’s Kindle application allows both
books to be read irrespective of the platform – for
example using the Kindle Fire, iPad or a smartphone such as
Samsung’s Galaxy – at a price that is not just fair but
actually sensational. You can read while you are out and
about, at home on the couch, in bed or in discussion with
others. This shrinks the printed 3,240 pages and 2.8 kg of 2-3
Straßen by Jochen Gerz (published by DuMont, Cologne) to a
digital treasure chest as light as a feather and full of
surprises, a chronicle of 10,000 contributions created by 887
authors: The year of the Capital of Culture 2010.
2-3
STREETS wins award
The Montag Art and
Society Foundation awarded its special 2011 distinction
to Jochen Gerz for his pioneering and participatory artistic
concepts in public space. From over 800 candidates, the jury
decided that his work 2-3 Steets. An Exhibition
in Cities of the Ruhr for the European Capital of Culture
RUHR.2010 exemplified the potential of art to change and
improve social co-existence and to involve a large number of
people creatively in the process. The award-winner receives
10,000 €.
Contact:
Rainer Krause
