Daniel V. Keller: FOR A FISH TANK OR A PARKING LOT

FOR A FISH TANK OR A PARKING LOT is Daniel V. Keller’s first artist’s book. It is being published by Jungle Books as part of the Facetten series by the Kulturstiftung des Kantons Thurgau in collaboration with Jungle Books.

In his work, Keller examines connections between materials and materialities, architecture and architectural elements—in the real world as well as in models. FOR A FISH TANK OR A PARKING LOT is simultaneously a work of research, collection, and fiction. Keller researches the ecological and cultural significance of gravel and sand, which play a major role in the composition of the earth’s surface, at least in our latitudes, as valuable resources and important components of concrete. A photographic collection of pebbles—printed on almost translucent paper—forms the grid-like, even rigid structure of the book. With a focus on the different shapes and surfaces of the individual stones, the anonymous mass of this basic material of our built environment dissolves into countless individuals.

Gravel is extracted from the earth, taken out of pits and rivers, and simultaneously grows upward in new formations as a component of concrete. In this way, Keller designs visual fictions specifically for this publication made of gravel. They are bold architectures, ruins of the future, and in some cases dystopian landscapes. Printed on transparent film and distributed throughout the book, these images humorously address the effects of human action such as the consumption of resources and our modern-day impact on the environment.

The text by the Dutch writer Maurits de Bruijn supplements Keller’s pictures, drills into the earth’s surface, digs for stones—and in the asphalt it finds the lava of the present.