Haus in der Nähe eines großen Waldes (“House near a deep forest”) by Markus Draper was released by Spector Books:

A house is the starting point of a modern fairy tale. Located in Dresden, the house has an intriguing history. It was home to an outpost of the Soviet KGB for a time - opposite the Dresden Stasi headquarters. Also the young secret service officer Vladimir Putin went in and out here from 1985 to 1990.

The house is part of the installation as a realistic model, surrounded by trees and animals. The narrator is a fly sitting in front of an open window. Her voice sounds cheekily childlike. She talks about the house, about Dresden, about the comprehensive surveillance of the KGB and the Stasi, about Putin's rise in the hierarchy of the Soviet Union, about the fall of the GDR and the end of socialism, about political affairs and intrigues.

The narrative is embedded in a stream of media images from news reports, documentaries and films. A “true” story in which historical facts, memories and visions are blended together. Not a history lesson, but a fairytale-like, artistic reconstruction full of conjecture, ambiguities and gaps, which takes in many perspectives - as if observed through the compound eyes of a fly. At the same time, it is a story about storytelling and the construction of history.

The book was designed by Christian Lange, who paired KTF Rublena and Kommuna throughout.

Spector Books writes: 

“The publication documents the everyday life of family Lange using meticulously kept cash books. Gisela Lange, the mother of the designer, gathered endless accounts of groceries, taxes, parties, leisure activities, clothes or presents with an exact price index. To complement the cycle of this everyday life narratively, the first 18 years of life, from 1979 to 1997, were analyzed and summarized in appropriate categories. Brief explanations and interviews with protagonists of the list illustrate important moments. A series of family photos, pictures of products, certificates and receipts add to the family’s archive.

With its 12.051 items, Lange Liste 79–97 grants a detailed impression of the hidden desires, pleasures and losses of a family’s household kept in two different political and economical systems. The story of childhood and youth in form of a housekeeping book. A meticulously calculating mother who had to watch her money provides inspiration for experimental literature. Lange Liste 79–97 is a unique book covering everyday life during the late GDR and the German Republic shortly after unification.”

More info on the book’s website.