Jian Haake

The thesis: The one, sole and universally valid definition for the book does not exist. Instead, there is a variety of definitions that have their value and justification at a certain time, in a certain place, in a specific context. New definitions are constantly being added while others disappear.

Haake has developed a programme that uses text fragments from her constantly growing archive and reassembles them by means of an algorithm. At a specific moment, this generates a new definition of the medium of the book that has its value and justification, without ignoring the variety of definitions that already exist and are still possible.

The programme runs on a micro-controller that is linked to a receipt printer and a button. As soon as the button is pressed, the programme generates and prints a new definition. It is like a ritual that can take place at any time: Haake presses the button, devotes herself to the newly printed definition, and after a while hangs it on the wall of her studio, with all the other definitions. Whenever she encounters a new thought about the book, she enters the text fragment into her archive and sooner or later finds it again in a new definition, in a different context, in a modified form.