The Written Work

Critical Essay

Philosophy · Fiction · Consciousness · Identity

Art & Writing as One Practice. A Dutch/Yugoslav multidisciplinary artist and author whose writing operates at the threshold between philosophy, visual art, and lived consciousness — treating the book not as commentary on art, but as an extension of it.

Tosha integrates his artworks directly into his books — not as illustrations but as material arguments: tangible manifestations of philosophical inquiry. The page becomes a spatial field; the sculpture becomes a sentence; the exhibition becomes a form of syntax.

I. The Cycle and Its Argument

001

The Assembler, Disassembled

001 · January 2026

An experimental work presented as a forensic dossier — documenting the psychological collapse of a creator who constructed a fictional persona to contain his own grief. Composed of recovered therapy transcripts, diary fragments, clinical observations, and schematic diagrams.

The reader is positioned as a detached observer or archivist, kept at clinical distance — where identity is treated not as truth to be discovered, but as infrastructure under audit.

Systemic breakdown of identity · Mechanization of metaphor · Authenticity vs. performance

Influenced by Beckett, Sebald, Bernhard, Borges, Nabokov

Blackwell’s ↗ E-Book ↗ Amazon ↗

002

The Invention of Andreas

002 · December 2025 · 205 pages

A psychological thriller wrapped in philosophical investigation. The story centres on a man who, paralysed by his own history, methodically engineers a new persona named Andreas — crafting an entire biography, new memories, new tastes, a new way of walking. Identity treated as sculpture.

The tension builds when the invented Andreas begins to exhibit behaviours the protagonist never programmed. The mask begins to eat the face — raising the haunting question: if you pretend to be someone else long enough, who is actually doing the pretending?

The weight of identity · Erasure vs. creation · The mirror phase

Prose technique: the blur — sharp clarity dissolving into stream-of-consciousness

bol.com ↗ Apple Books ↗

003

A Garden for Orpheus

April 12, 2024 by Zt Tosha (Author)

Dive into the depths of human consciousness with ‘A Garden for Orpheus, ‘ a captivating journey that merges art and philosophy to illuminate the hidden corridors of our minds. Crafted by visionary artist ZT Tosha, this transformative collection invites you to explore the profound mysteries of existence.

In this intellectual odyssey, ‘A Garden for Orpheus’ delves into the fundamental questions of consciousness, probing the boundaries between the physical and the metaphysical. Through a synergy of artistic vision and philosophical inquiry, the book unveils the unseen forces shaping our reality and challenges us to reconsider the nature of our existence.

Within its pages, ‘A Garden for Orpheus’ serves as both a mirror and a portal, reflecting our innermost thoughts and offering glimpses into uncharted territories of the psyche. Each vibrant image by ZT Tosha is a fusion of artistic expression and deep contemplation, accompanied by insightful narration that renders

ZT Tosha (b. 1961, Mostar, former Yugoslavia) is a Dutch-Yugoslavian multidisciplinary artist and author. He studied at the Fine Art Academy, University of Sarajevo (1982–1987) and has been based in the Netherlands since 1989. He is the recipient of the International Prize Leonardo da Vinci (Museum of Science and Technology, Milan, 2023). His publications include The Invention of Andreas (2025) and A Garden for Orpheus (2024), both published by Pencilbrains LLC. OPUS: THE ASSEMBLER is his most recent and ongoing cycle of installations and sculptures.