Were I Made of Matter, I Would Color / Wäre ich von Stoff, ich würde mich färben

This book traces the evolution of Ulrike Gossarth's practice, with a particular emphasis on her training as a dancer in the 1970s, to draw connections between the early years with her sculptural settings and actions and her most recent work, which engages with history more generally.

In her contributing essay, Ulrike Gossarth states that the title—Were I Made of Matter, I Would Color—is a counter-model to the fundamental Descartian formula “I think therefore I am,” a position which exists between consciousness and disembodiment, in a state of incompleteness. Rainer Borgemeister discusses the artist's actions from 1978 to 1987, which were preceded by her critical engagement with modern dance. Further contributions from Mieke Bal, Michael Glasmeier, and Elliot R. Wolfson discuss Grossarth's practice in relation to history, the body, and polymorphism.

Published on the occasion of the eponymous retrospective exhibition at the Generali Foundation, Vienna, in 2014.

Ulrike Grossarth (born 1952 in Oberhausen, Germany, lives and works in Dresden and Berlin) she studied Artistic Dance at the Else Lang-Schule, Cologne (1969–72), and at Folkwang University (1972–74). In 1974 and 1975, she attended the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden. In 1980, she set up the Essen branch of the Free International University initiated by Joseph Beuys. Grossarth has been professor of Expanded Concepts of Art / Mixed Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden since 1998. In 2009, she received the Käthe Kollwitz Award of the Berlin Academy of Arts.

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Edited by Sabine Folie and Ilse Lafer.
Texts by Mieke Bal, Rainer Borgemeister, Sabine Folie, Michael Glasmeier, Ulrike Grossarth, Dietrich Karner, Elliot R. Wolfson.

Graphic design by Karin Holzfeind.

published in September 2014

bilingual edition (English / German)

18,5 x 24,5 cm (hardcover)

354 pages (79 color & 172 b/w ill.)

38.00 €

ISBN : 978-3-95679-068-3

EAN : 9783956790683

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