Franz Erhard Walther: Attempt To Be A Sculpture

This comprehensive book, published to accompany Attempt To Be A Sculpture, Franz Erhard Walther’s solo exhibition at Arter, offers a multilayered exploration of the artist’s practice spanning more than sixty years.

The publication opens with an introductory essay by the exhibition’s curator, Selen Ansen, which outlines a conceptual framework for engaging with Walther’s work and situates the artist’s practice within the context of the exhibition. Ansen’s second text, Touch Me / Not (diary of the days-without), reflects on Walther’s tactile works at the intersection of personal and collective memory, proximity, and distance. In addition to Attempt To Be A Sculpture, a text written by Franz Erhard Walther specifically for this book, two further essays by the artist are included. In The Other Work Concept, Walther discusses his understanding of art as action and bodily engagement that transcends the object, elaborating on his idea of the “unfinished” and “open-ended” work. Lexicon of Terms and Concepts, based on an interview conducted in 1996, presents a cohesive overview of the ideas underpinning his art, offering a general framework for his practice. Walther’s conceptual foundations and artistic background are further examined in an in-depth interview conducted by Erik Verhagen. This conversation traces a trajectory from the artist’s childhood memories and the post-war traumas of Germany to his relationship with fabric and his exhibition experiences at MoMA in New York. Finally, in texts written specifically for this publication, Esther Voswinckel Filiz reflects on the experience of Walther’s works in Istanbul, building new connections between language, touching, and movement, while Erdem Ceylan explores how Walther’s works transform the relationships between scale, architecture, and the body.

Designed by Emre Çıkınoğlu and produced in collaboration with the Franz Erhard Walther Foundation, the book features not only installation views by Kayhan Kaygusuz and Fırat Rüzgar but also archival images selected by the artist, along with photographs by Timm Rautert documenting Walther’s practice.