Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary: The Commissions Book is a vivid documentation of TBA21’s commissioning practice and the ethos of the foundation, which involves working directly with artists on some of the most urgent topics of our time. This volume is an anthology of new texts, visual material, and research on TBA21’s commissions, woven together with explorations of the processes and relationships that enabled them. The publication was inspired by the labor, dialogue, and collaboration it took to produce these works over the past two decades, and what it means to be their guardian. The book’s innovative design was conceived by the world’s foremost book designer, Irma Boom. A selection of smell molecules from trees, forests, and earth are embedded into print sheets made of robust natural fibers, which are covering and bookending the publication. The smell was recorded, replicated, and recombined by artist Sissel Tolaas as a special commission for the book. Honoring TBA21’s commitment to the environment, the book is made from sustainable materials, using 100 percent recycled paper.
The Commissions Book includes TBA21 and TBA21–Academy commissions as well as works from the TBA21 Collection by Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, David Adjaye, Nabil Ahmed, Doug Aitken, Atif Akin, John Akomfrah, Nevin Aladağ, Allora & Calzadilla, Laura Anderson Barbata, Jonathas de Andrade, Kutluğ Ataman, Neïl Beloufa, Cecilia Bengolea, John Bock, Monica Bonvicini, Candice Breitz, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Julian Charrière, Anetta Mona Chişa and Lucia Tkáčová, Tyler Coburn, Phil Collins, Claudia Comte, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Emanuel Danesch and David Rych, Dark Morph, Jeremy Deller, Olafur Eliasson, Noa Eshkol, Omer Fast, Mario García Torres, Gelitin, Isa Genzken, Liam Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Dan Graham, Ariel Guzik, Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Thomas Nordanstad, Florian Hecker, Nikolaus Hirsch / Michel Müller and Cybermohalla Ensemble, Carsten Höller, Marine Hugonnier, Pierre Huyghe, inhabitants, Sanja Iveković, Rashid Johnson, Joan Jonas, Brad Kahlhamer, Amar Kanwar, Ragnar Kjartansson, Armin Linke, Sharon Lockhart, Los Carpinteros, Sarah Lucas, Ursula Mayer, Jonathan Meese, Eduardo Navarro, Ernesto Neto and the Huni Kuin, Rivane Neuenschwander, Carsten Nicolai, Olaf Nicolai, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Mathias Poledna, Walid Raad, Raqs Media Collective, Lisa Rave, Matthew Ritchie with ArandaLasch and Arup AGU, Tomás Saraceno, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, Hans Schabus, Christoph Schlingensief, Allan Sekula, Charles Stankievech, Simon Starling, SUPERFLEX, Territorial Agency, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Sissel Tolaas, Suzanne Treister, Janaina Tschäpe with David Gruber, Jana Winderen, Susanne M. Winterling, Cerith Wyn Evans, Želimir Žilnik.