Sand is Water You Can walk On

The artist book Sand is Water You Can walk On by Katharina Schilling brings together the series of paintings ofthe same name with texts by the authors Eva Hegge, Miriam Stoney, and Sophia Eisenhut. In her series ofworks, Schilling refers to Gothic illuminations, an early form of painting that tells of a time before the concept of the subject. The engagement of (art) historical themes from an anti-subjective, utopian -speculative perspective informs Schilling’s work. The three authors touch on themes from Schilling’s paintings and write texts that diverge inform and content. With her story, Eva Hegge submerges us in a dreamy, nerdy narrative. Miriam Stoney delvesinto mathematical, lyrical deconstruction and Sophia Eisenhut swirls the most diverse strands into a medievalpop melange. The three texts stand alongside the paintings on an equal footingand forge new connections not only with the paintings but also with each other. Intertextual references to feminist literature, medieval poetry and political as well as geometric theory emerge. While the artistic exchange between the authors and Schilling is obvious, the publication deliberately leavesunclear whether the texts refer to the paintings or vice versa. If you follow the pictures, the three voices speakto you again and again; if you follow the texts, your gaze is drawn back to the pictures. The open principle ofthe publication moves incessantly between the different subject areas and creates a lyrical form that opens upmore gaps than it closes.