Erik Šimšík

jury statement

★★★★
Slovak Republic /// Slowakei
★★★★

This publication might initially elicit some scepticism, but its jarring style captures the attention and enables it to enter into a dialogue with the reader, which is surely a desirable characteristic for any book. The content is conveyed in an appropriately unpretentious manner that makes it all the more real. Once you’ve been drawn in by this collection of visual poems, it’s hard to escape their charms. Captivating both to the eye and to the touch, the book feels handmade and yet professional.

This collection stands in almost total contrast to conventional ideas on poetry while also challenging traditional perceptions of what a book should look like. It comes as a bound pile of paper in A4 format. The spine is held together with light blue rubber tape, which contrasts nicely with the orange paper of the front cover (and also harmonises with the lavender-hued alternative version). As you flip through the pages, turning them vertically, it becomes clear that this work is an expertly printed risograph reproduction of an imaginary sketchbook. It charmingly blends literature and visual arts while posing the question: What is a truly contemporary form of poetry? With their consistent use of bright colours, rough text compositions, doodles and collage-like cut-outs, the works take the reader on a journey through the mind of author Erik Šimšík. Featuring around 70 literary graphics, they are full of allusions to pop culture, art and the problems of contemporary society, and also reference the graffiti aesthetic of the block of flats in which Šimšík grew up.