“We, the artists and the exhibited artworks, are part of a larger whole: Your artwork, Esther.” Kerim Seiler
From the beginnings of the message salon art space in 1995 until the end of the Perla-Mode era in December 2013, Esther Eppstein photographed the artists, the installation of the exhibitions, the vernissages and the numerous visitors with an analogue compact camera. Over the years, a kind of subjective family album was created around the message salon as a meeting place and platform for the Zurich art scene.
During the Perla-Mode era, the photo albums, continuously edited and completed by Esther Eppstein, were available for visitors to view in the message salon on the first floor of Perla-Mode. Over a period of seven years, 58 photo albums of 100 pictures each were created. These 58 Perla-Mode photo albums form the source material and the focus of the 680-page book ‘Esther Eppstein message salon’. The publication on the history of the message salon also contains a second part with photographs from the period since 1995, as well as texts by Kerim Seiler and Nadine Olonetzky.
In addition to illustrating and documenting the nomadic art space message salon, the book is also Esther Eppstein’s artistic monograph of an oeuvre that has grown over the years and the salon as an art practice that can be captured and documented using the medium of photography. The publication is being released by Zurich-based art book publisher Scheidegger & Spiess. The book will be available at the book launch for the special price of CHF 60.
At the exhibition, Esther Eppstein will also present the exclusive premiere of the five-hour video ‘Perla-Mode-Album’, which, in contrast to the printed publication, shows all 58 photographed Perla-Mode albums in exact chronological order.
The book
‘Esther Eppstein message salon’
Photography: Esther Eppstein
Design: Benjamin Sommerhalder
Book cover: Alexis Saile
Texts: Kerim Seiler and Nadine Olonetzky
680 pages
Hardback, 24 x 31 cm
black and white and colour
German and English
1st edition, 2016
ISBN 978-3-85881-456-2
Published by Scheidegger & Spiess
The video
Esther Eppstein ‘Perla fashion album’
Photography: Esther Eppstein
58 albums with 100 photos each
Chronology September 2006-December 2013
Video 4h 56 min, message salon 2016
Production Filmerei.ch
Programme in the exhibition
Book launch Wednesday 4 May, 6pm
Exhibition 5-7 May 2016, daily 3-6 pm
Thursday 5 May
Trabant Echo, Concert in the exhibition
Tobias von Glenck: bass and guitar / Martin Lorenz: drums and electronics
Opening: 8.30 pm, concert: 9 pm
Friday, 6 May
Le salon dans le Salon ‘message salon for ever’, open discussion in the exhibition
Moderated by Dr Iemmolo (English and German)
Opening: 6 pm, discussion: 7 to 8 pm
Saturday, 7 May
Finissage, with DJ Sistaesta and performance by None of Them
22 to 03 o’clock
This exhibition is supported by the Erna and Curt Burgauer Foundation, Perla-Mode-Veterans and Filmerei.ch.
With thanks to Zainab Lascandri, Karin Müller, Nico Sebastian Meyer and Kunstraum Walcheturm.