Every year, the Österreichischer Buchpreis recognizes outstanding achievements in Austrian bookmaking through its selection of Austria’s Most Beautiful Books. Among the 2025 winners is Smoke, Birds, Pun, Crisis – A Dialogic Glossary, an artist’s book by Magdalena Kreinecker that challenges conventional ideas of what a monograph can be. Rather than documenting an artistic practice from beginning to end, the publication invites readers into an open system of thoughts, conversations and visual associations that can be explored in countless directions.
Developed around 62 carefully selected words encountered by Kreinecker while working in the print workshop — including terms such as Blueprint, Heart and Container — the publication maps the artist’s creative methodology through language. Each entry opens a new pathway, connecting artistic processes, technical production, personal reflections and short narratives into an encyclopedia-like reading experience that deliberately resists a linear structure.
Developed around 62 carefully selected words encountered by Kreinecker while working in the print workshop — including terms such as Blueprint, Heart and Container — the publication maps the artist’s creative methodology through language.
Instead of following a chronological narrative, Smoke, Birds, Pun, Crisis encourages readers to move freely between parallel thoughts and recurring ideas. At its heart is a dialogue between Magdalena Kreinecker and Simon Nagy, complemented by contributions from several guest authors whose diverse texts expand the publication’s many perspectives. Adding another playful layer, the book even includes a custom board game by artist Yemo Park, reinforcing the publication’s invitation to interact, discover, and return.
A Reading Experience Shaped by Design and Paper
Designed by Theresa Hattinger and published by Textem Verlag, the book’s physical form reflects its conceptual openness. Large-format pages with softly rounded corners move away from the familiar appearance of exhibition catalogues, while the typography continuously shifts throughout the publication. Rather than imposing a rigid visual hierarchy, the typesetting adapts to the rhythm of the texts and images, allowing content and design to exist in a fluid, symbiotic relationship. The result is a publication that rewards browsing just as much as careful reading, a visual inventory that invites endless exploration.
Supporting this experience is the thoughtful choice of paper. Printed throughout on Clairbook 1.5Natural White 120 g/m², the uncoated paper offers an inviting tactile quality while providing an excellent surface for both text and image reproduction. Its natural white shade enhances readability without sacrificing the richness of the printed material, making it well suited to a publication that encourages readers to linger, revisit, and navigate freely between its many interconnected entries.
Through its experimental structure, carefully considered design, and material choices, the publication transforms reading into an act of exploration — qualities that make its recognition as one of Austria’s Most Beautiful Books of 2025 thoroughly deserved.
With Smoke, Birds, Pun, Crisis – A Dialogic Glossary, Magdalena Kreinecker demonstrates how the book itself can become an extension of artistic practice. Through its experimental structure, carefully considered design, and material choices, the publication transforms reading into an act of exploration — qualities that make its recognition as one of Austria’s Most Beautiful Books of 2025 thoroughly deserved.
Images © Michael Goldgruber/BMWKMS