Kurt Ryslavy Boeken

The book critically examines the Works for Sale series by the Austrian conceptual artist Kurt Ryslavy, which may be regarded as the magnum opus of his nearly forty years of artistic practice. Works for Sale are immaterial sculptures. The central concept is the idea of buying or selling the work of another artist under the title Work for Sale and under Ryslavy’s name. First shown in Ghent in 1992, the Works for Sale were later included in Kasper König’s Skulptur Projekte Münster in 1997. They attracted international attention but were never sold in an institutional context. The documentation, certificates, and packaging that accompany the Works for Sale are merely material accessories, reflecting a failure to understand the intangible nature of the work.

„Negotium“ recalls West’s „Otium“ and represents Ryslavy’s „Verkaufswerk“ number 23, 47 and 48. It is an artist’s book and simultaneously a “sales catalogue” of three Franz West works. The main interest is on number 23, „Immobiles Paßstück mit Kindersonnenbrille (in Polizeistubengrün)“, “Immobile Adaptive with Children’s Sunglasses (in police office green)” by Franz West. The work was signed by West in 1982 and dated “74 or 75” on the back. It consists of a light green pocket object of pressboard and cardboard, originally nailed to the wall. In the pocket is a dark green plastic folder which contains 20 Franz West collages, and children’s sunglasses with dark (plastic) lenses that are supposed to be worn while looking at the collages.