From producing sterile goldfish to choreographing the factory assembly line, Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen’s work could be thought of as situated—that is to say, it is performed within particular networks. These networks—whether connecting raw materials, mythic conditions, animal genetics, constructions of uncertainty, or colonial inheritances—form a point of departure from which to think of friction, entanglement, porousness, reflection, and self-implication. Not What I Meant But Anyway reveals the methods and processes behind Cohen and Van Balen’s work and working, prioritizing long and multidimensional research and production over its eventual outcomes. Intermingling conversations between the artists on living and working together, their generated ephemera, and a series of external reflections, the book hints at the intimacies and estrangements inherent to their practice.

With contributions from Daisy Hildyard, Andrés Jaque, Lucia Pietroiusti, and Xiaoyu Weng.