The techniques they employ do not tie them down but leave them free to select any method, from manual typesetting and letterpress to digital technologies, and apply them with panache where they are most appropriate.

The use of typography clearly occupies pride of place. ‹usus› Ulrike Stoltz and Uta Schneider have been working together for thirty years. Their collaboration has produced artist’s books, portfolios, texts, typographical installations of space and text, and drawings. They regard collaboration as an artistic concept in its own right. At the same time, they also create works as solo artists or in dialogue with other colleagues.

The exhibition buch. räume. sprach. bilder. 30 Jahre Zusammenarbeit. ‹usus›: Uta Schneider & Ulrike Stoltz (book. spaces. language. images. 30 years of collaboration. ‹usus›: Uta Schneider & Ulrike Stoltz) showed a cross section through the artists’ books, from their early works to the present day, supplemented with selected examples from their print portfolios. The works can be assigned to five thematic groupings: the boatbook – boats and books; collaboration (with each other and with others); typography; books about books or libraries; literary and linguistic references.