Klaus Merkel's "Hornbook" volume of the Kienbaum artist books 2014 is characterized by the arrangement of around 173 paintings in the volume, which corresponds to his work and exhibition practice. The artist constantly forms series of paintings, blocks, or rhythms to transform his pictograms into signals of form and color without messages. He himself has stated in this context that "one only sees what passes through the subjective atmosphere." The images do not "tell" stories, nor are they meant to translate "abstractions." You can physically grasp or reject them. "Image signs can also be described in this way, only that the image ceases to be a narrative place and thus no longer has a mimetic function. In doing so, the artist limits himself to a palette of a few colors, namely green, red, yellow, black, and sometimes blue.