The notion of the handmade has shifted from the margins to center stage. Craft’s value is increasingly recognized across creative, economic, social, cultural, and political contexts. Because of its widespread appropriation, and the dissolution of disciplinary boundaries, the meaning of handicrafts is changing.

Since 1985, Gregor Schneider has occupied an abandoned house next to one of the largest chasms in the world—the brown-coal surface mine near Rheydt-Mönchengladbach known as the Garzweiler. In the building, which he named Haus u r, he proceeded to build rooms within rooms. With this publication, art historian Raimund Stecker reconnects with his first visit to Haus u r.

Does art possess the power to cause structural and meaningful changes in daily life? By means of a critical essay, correspondence with kindred spirits from the field, and visual impressions, this book reflects on the possibility to merge art and life, fiction and reality, and on the importance of this process for the future of artistic practice.

When making things without prior knowledge of “the material,” how should such naive and potentially brutal behavior be interpreted, and what does it represent and generate?

This unique publication, filled with annotated images, presents an inventory of design, furniture, and textiles produced for Fogo Island Inn. Each piece is a collaborative effort between artisans and craftspeople living on the island and designers from various parts of the world who were invited to engage with the history and communities of Fogo Island and Change Islands in Newfoundland, Canada.