Andy Guhl

This book about the experimental musician Andy Guhl at first looks loud and somewhat confusing, but this is part of its programmatic intent. It is a reference to Guhl’s musical credo: for four decades, he has often moved on the border between music and noise with his disassembled and rewired everyday electronic devices. In addition, two important design decisions remind the reader that a book, like live music, has a temporal dimension: the left hand pages show full-bleed still images from audiovisual performances by Guhl, creating a strong rhythm as one leafs through; and on the right-hand pages, a continuous stream of various images and texts flows from top to bottom in a seemingly mechanical layout. On these pages, the unusual paper, reminiscent of carbon paper, is extremely susceptible to the traces left from being touched and scratched. The inevitable rapid wear on the volume, particularly on the cover, transforms each book into a unique art object.