Urs Fischer: Shovel in a Hole

In a move that now seems prescient, Swiss artist Urs Fischer--who was born in 1973--literally pulled the floor out from under viewers for a 2007 exhibition at Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York, by digging through the gallery foundations and exposing the dirt and rubble beneath. Best known for this kind of dramatic transfiguration of the exhibition space, as well as for his unexpected transformations of quotidian objects and his lack of allegiance to any one style, Fischer consistently projects a sense of transience and existential uncertainty. This volume--which includes newly commissioned essays by Massimiliano Gioni and Jessica Morgan, as well as over 200 images of Fischer's work, including installation views and studio shots--functions like a search engine, cross-referencing Fischer's thought processes. Published concurrently with his solo exhibition at New York's New Museum, it was conceived by designer Scipio Schneider in close collaboration with the artist.