Trade fair stand, Leipzig

Without glue to hold them in place, the thousands of pencils offer almost endless possibilities – they can be rearranged to present the books in any number of ways, or simply picked out and pocketed by visitors who desire a keepsake, in one moment fundamentally altering the present and future structure of the stand. Even the publisher's name could be modified, abbreviated or rendered completely different by an intrepid mischief-maker. This trade fair stand toys with the notion of the pencil as a generic giveaway item and contrasts it with that of a humble writing implement that contains the potential to produce great literary works. The concept is therefore amusing not only for its self-referential qualities, but also for its flexible and ultimately transient nature.

Watch a short film of the construction of the Mitteldeutscher Verlag trade fair stand.