Bernhard Cella’s works are characterised by the decision always to allow artistic practice to evolve within a system of co-ordinates that takes account of the role of authorship as much as the co-operation with partners involved in the potential implementation. Whenever this succeeds, social structures and unrepeatable existences, different cultural backgrounds and material artefacts are able to engage with one another. Translation processes: failure as a constant companion. While guesting at the Nanjing Art University Cella invited local artists to give their own individual interpretations of one of his works. This process produced photo portraits of the artists and their individual works; painting had become a transition medium for Cella, who at the same time had compiled extensive annotations. The elaborately handcrafted artist’s book showcases this arrangement of copying, interpretation and dialogue processes among colleagues. A rare and very personal insight into the young everyday lives of modern-day China has thus been created using the means available to art.

Bernhard Cella, *1969 in Salzburg, Austria. Lives and works in Vienna.