tranzit.hu at the OFF-Biennale Budapest – Book launch and discussion
Time: May 7, 2015, 7 pm
Venue: Mayakovsky 102, the open office of tranzit. hu, 1068 Budapest, Király utca 102.
Participants of the discussion: László Beke (art historian, curator, Budapest), Klaus Groh (artist, art historian, art educator, Edewecht)
The discussion is moderated by Dóra Hegyi, László Zsuzsa, and Eszter Szakács, editors of the book
The discussion will be in English.
In 1971, László Beke—the renowned Hungarian art historian and curator—sent out a call to artists to submit sheets following the concept: WORK = the DOCUMENTATION OF THE IMAGINATION/IDEA. This is how Beke's unique collection of Hungarian Conceptual art was created, which functioned for decades as a “Concept art exhibition par excellence,” available for viewing only privately, in A4 folders. From the 2000s, however, IMAGINATION has been featured in several exhibitions, both in Hungary and internationally, and was published also as a book in itself. This comprehensive collection of Conceptual art, after its first edition in Hungarian (Budapest: Open Structures Society – tranzit. hu, 2008), is now published by tranzit. hu and JRP|Ringier as facsimiles with English translations, alongside Eszter Szakács's interview with László Beke, his essay describing the context of the project, and updated biographical data of the participants, among others Imre Bak, Miklós Erdély, György Jovánovics, Ilona Keserü, Dezső Korniss, László Lakner, Gyula Pauer, Géza Perneczky, Sándor Pinczehelyi, Tamás Szentjóby, and Endre Tót.
At the book launch, László Beke will be in conversation with Klaus Groh, who compiled the seminal publication on Conceptual art, If I had a Mind (1971), and an essential guide for East and Central European progressive art, Aktuelle Kunst in Osteuropa (1972), in which, similarly to Beke’s IMAGINATION, each artist participated with works on paper. The conversation is moderated by Dóra Hegyi, Zsuzsa László, and Eszter Szakács, the editors of the book.
IMAGINATION/IDEA.The Beginning of Hungarian Conceptual Art. The László Beke Collection, 1971
Editors: The collection is edited by László Beke. The book is edited by Dóra Hegyi, Zsuzsa László, and Eszter Szakács
368 pages, color, 23,5 x 30 cm, English
Design: Zoltán Lonovics
Publisher: tranzit.hu - JRP|Ringier, 2014
ISBN/ISSN: 978-3-03764-318-1
The book can be purchased at the launch at a discount price, for 8000 HUF.