Published by Valiz. Text by Frits Gierstberg, Katrin Pietsch.
What Is This Thing Called Polaroid? focuses on the intimate relationship the artist Ulay (born 1943) has developed with the medium of Polaroid, which he has been exploring since the 1970s. For him the unique and immediate character of each Polaroid photograph was, and still is, a perfect match for his performance and body art. The experiments that Ulay conducted even led him to start working inside a large-format Polaroid camera, radically merging the body of the artist with the body of the camera while the image was being created.
This book provides insights into Ulay’s artistic pursuits with Polaroid photography and also examines the medium itself, surveying the historical background of the Polaroid, its technical innovations, the specific chemical processes involved and the challenges of conserving Polaroid prints.
Published by Spector Books. Edited with text by Matthias Ulrich, Max Holheim. Text by Maria Rus Bojan, Noah Charney, Ann Demeester, Sophie Duplaix, Rudolf Frieling, Chrissie Iles, Dominic Johnson, Amelia Jones, Thomas McEvilley, Lyle Rexer, Beate Söntgen.
He describes himself self-deprecatingly as the “most famous unknown artist”: Frank Uwe Laysiepen aka Ulay. With his concept of transformation, he constantly creates new identities. His preferred medium is photography — initially, in the form of the Polaroid, photography became an integral part of his earliest artistic practice. For Ulay the instant picture, which has now been replaced by the digital image, is the material in his decade-long search for a way to represent life. To this day, his body serves as the object of his research, on which various influences leave traces and can be read, just like on a canvas. The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt presents the first-ever major overview of the works of the artist, which will be accompanied by a catologue covering photographs, performance art pieces, and works that Ulay has kept private for years and which are now being made public for the first time.
Published by Valiz. Edited and with text by Maria Rus Bojan, Alessandro Cassin. Text by Laurie Anderson, Thomas McEvilley, Timea Lelik, Tevz Logar, Charlemagne Palestine, John Reuter, Silvio Wolf. Interview with Marina Abramovic.
Uwe Frank Laysiepen (born 1943), better known as Ulay, has been a pioneer of Polaroid photography and one of the central figures of European performance art since the 1970s. A singular presence among the artists of his generation, his radically innovative work in partnership with Marina Abramovic has received critical acclaim worldwide. With the exception of his 12-year collaboration with Abramovic, much of the work that makes up Ulay’s long career is not well known outside of Europe. Compiled by Maria Rus Bojan (who has published extensively on Ulay), Whispers: Ulay on Ulay reveals an extremely innovative oeuvre, coherently rooted in a personal life philosophy guided by strong ethical principles. "I produced a very bizarre body of work," Ulay says of his artistic career, "I experimented a lot: You have to if you are aiming at something that does not exist yet." In a long, thematic interview with Alessandro Cassin, Ulay speaks openly about his life and career. This unusually generous volume provides new insight into the early work and current endeavors of the artist.
Ulay: Life-Sized
Whispers: Ulay on Ulay