Nina Fischer / Maroan el Sani Spelling Dystopia Collection Monographs & Artists’ Books Edited by Maroan el Sani Nina Fischer Christoph Keller Author(s) Mami Kataoka Edition English / Japanese June 2012 ISBN: 978-3-03764-275-7 Softcover, 210 x 285 mm 136 pages Images 84 color / 46 b/w CHF 40 / EUR 29 / £ 24 / US 39.95 Print pdf Artist's book The publication shows the process of developing and realizing the film installation "Spelling Dystopia," about the Japanese island Hashima, once the most densely populated place on earth, a coal mine until 1974, and a symbol today of a ruthless exploitation of resources. Nowadays the abandoned island is better known as a ghost island through mangas, video games, and movies. "Spelling Dystopia" asks how memory operates, how a site wears its history, both physically and metaphorically, and visualizes the shift in collective memory. The book contains sketches, research material, production stills, series of photographic images, and a manga realized in collaboration with Kasuga Tsubaki, a Japanese manga artist. The publication is part of the series of artists' projects edited by Christoph Keller.