August 2022 saw the publication of Larissa Fassler: Viewshed, a monograph on the Berlin-based Canadian artist’s work edited by Diana Sherlock and published by DISTANZ. I contributed a collection of texts that run through the book, responding to Larissa’s work, as well as the essays contributed by my fellow authors Karen Till, Shauna Janssen, Chris Blache and Pascale Lapalud, and Nicole Burisch.
Larissa Fassler’s (b. Vancouver, Canada, 1975; lives and works in Berlin) art practice is dedicated to the complex relationship between human beings and their environment. Based on participant observations of changing urban geographies and cultures, she creates drawings, sculptures, and paintings that analyze and map these realities. Her objects of scrutiny are public scenes like the Gare du Nord, Les Halles, and the Place de la Concorde in Paris, New York City’s Columbus Circle, Istanbul’s Taksim Square and Berlin’s Kottbusser Tor. Her multilayered works illustrate how urban environments impact the psychological and physical well-being of people and how the built environment conversely reflects people’s perception, understanding, and use of these places. Fassler avails herself of analytical tools from anthropology and urban planning to amass research and data that she illustrates in large-format pencil drawings, paintings, and expansive installations and translates into imposing dense cartographies.
The artist’s monograph presents a comprehensive sample of works from the past 15 years. With a preface by Diana Sherlock, an interview with the artist and texts by Fiona Shipwright, Karen Till, Shauna Janssen, Chris Blache and Pascale Lapalud, and Nicole Burisch.
Fiona Shipwright 