Wht Is a Berlesconi‪?‬

Silvio Berlusconi is an Italian politician, the Prime Minister of Italy, as well as an entrepreneur. This unique handmade book and

graphic e-book documents the inner life of this multifaceted man using a special technique of overprinting images and texts onto existing

sheets of book paper. This layering of visual and textual information creates a singular reading experience that evokes what it must be like

inside the mind of such a complicated and funny man. The text of "Wht is a Berlusconi?" was "written" by a font designed by Chan that rewrites words into short provocative phrases, which makes reading this book that much more complicated and pleasurable.


Paul Chan is an artist who lives and works in New York. His work has been exhibited widely in many international shows including: Making Worlds, 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice, 2009; Medium Religion, ZKM, Karlsruhe, 2008; Traces du sacrê, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2008 and the Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, 2006. Recent solo exhibitions include Paul Chan: The 7 Lights, Serpentine Gallery, London and New Museum, New 2007–2008. In 2007, Chan collaborated with the Classical Theatre of Harlem and Creative Time to produce a site-specific outdoor presentation of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot in New Orleans. Chan’s essays and interviews have appeared in Artforum, Frieze, Flash Art, October, Tate etc, Parkett, Texte Zur Kunst, Bomb, and other magazines and journals.