Or. more or less

In this 2003 installment of the Fama & Fortune Bulletin, Haim Steinbach presents Or, an artist‑curated “performance” in print form.

Across 48 pages, Steinbach structures typographic and visual elements to echo his sculptural installations—where everyday objects are framed and recontextualized. True to his practice since the late 1970s, the magazine issue explores the cultural and psychological meanings of objects by isolating and framing them on the page. The design reflects his signature approach, treating the publication itself as a curated environment where text, image, and layout interact as art.

Haim Steinbach (* Rehovot, Israel, 1944 and living in New York since 1957) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City. He has been an influential exponent of art based on already existing objects. Since the late 1970’s Steinbach’s art has been focused on the selection and arrangement of objects, above all everyday objects. In order to bring them to light, he has been conceiving structures and framing devices for their presentation. Steinbach presents objects, ranging from the natural to the ordinary, the artistic to the ethnographic, giving form to art works that underscore their identity and inherent meanings. Exploring the psychological, aesthetic, cultural and ritualistic aspects of objects as well as their context, Steinbach has radically redefined the status of the object in art.