Known for her paper art and collages, Marion Eichmann spent many weeks in the Reichstag building and the enclosed parliamentary buildings. Not only did she visit the plenary chamber, the floor designated to the parliamentary groups and the committee rooms, but she also keenly observed in corridors, canteens, libraries, and connecting tunnels the everyday life of a highly complex machinery that keeps the heart of democracy beating almost invisibly—focussing her interest at once on the iconic facades and settings familiar to the public, and on the rarely visible workspaces, devices, and often-overlooked details essential to the smooth daily operation of Parliament. Created as part of a commissioned project by the German Bundestag, the series of more than 80 papercuts documented in this volume in its entirety, provides a unique insight into the artist’s creative process and working methods.

MARION EICHMANN (*1974, Essen) studied at the Berlin University of the Arts and Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin. Longer working stays took her to Tokyo, New York, and Istanbul. In 2017, her spatial installation Laundromat received special attention at art KARLSRUHE and at the Haus am Lützowplatz/IG Metall-Haus, Berlin.