Lothar Baumgarten

Object Atlas presents objects from the Weltkulturen Museum's ethnographic collection alongside new works produced by eight artists who lived and worked in the museum's laboratory during 2011: Alf Bayrle, Helke Bayrle, Thomas Bayrle, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Sunah Choi, Antje Majewski, Otobong Nkanga, Simon Popper and Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs.

Omnipresent and essential to life, trees have been underestimated by biologists. But in recent years, they have been the subject of scientific discoveries that have allowed us to see these oldest and largest members of the community of living beings in a new light. Capable of sensory perception, showing complex communication skills, living in symbiosis with many other species and influencing the climate, trees are equipped with unexpected faculties whose discovery confirms what indigenous, traditional and local communities had long acknowledged. Featuring works by contemporary artists including forest people, scientific imagery, films, photographs and sound installations, the exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, strives to highlight the beauty, ingenuity and biological richness of trees, allowing us to see and hear these impressive protagonists of the living world that now find themselves also under increasing threat. Through paintings, drawings, photographs, scientific images, maps and texts by specialists, the catalogue published to accompany the exhibition invites the reader to dive into the fascinating and beautiful world of trees.

This, the fourth volume of de-, dis-, ex-., analyses the history of correspondences between art and ethnographic practice. Contributors consider the founding of art historical and ethnographic method in the 1920s, the transgression of these traditions in the 1930s by The College of Sociology, and the ongoing development and critique of both methods in art practices, such as Sophie Calle's and Renee Green's. Contributors include Lothar Baumgarten, Marc Auge, James Clifford, Anne Rorimer, Miwon Kwon, Arnd Schneider, James Meyer and Susanne Kuchler. 72 b/w illustrations

Along with other major artists of his time like Joseph Beuys, Walter de Maria, or Robert Smithson, Lothar Baumgarten significantly extended the bounds of the art of the 1960s, particularly through his exploration with and in his reflections on the source of "nature." However, unlike his American colleagues who oriented themselves on the power of reality, Lothar Baumgarten challenged the Eurocentric view and, alternating between research and documentation, openly confronted the unknown site-specific "other" of a given location. Again and again he tracked down the phantom of "nature" within culture through his ephemeral, three-dimensionally materialized comments, drawings, photographs, slide projections, films, and documentary sound recordings. In long-term projects he developed presentation spaces that primarily explored different cultural systems and their specific conceptions of space and time.

"This catalogue to accompany the museum exhibition traces the emergence of the artistic impulses to use the earth as material, land as medium, and to locate works in remote sites, beyond familiar art contexts. Significantly, "Ends of the Earth" challenges many myths about Land art--that it was primarily a North American phenomenon, that it was foremost a sculptural practice, and that it exceeds the confines of the art system. Featuring over 100 artists hailing from countries including Great Britain, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, the exhibition constitutes the most comprehensive survey of Land art to date"--Provided by publisher.

This monograph is a compendium of Lothar Baumgarten's work and artistic thinking. The various essential aspects of his work, such as language, architecture, photography and history are highlighted in four essays. A current interview with the artist, conducted by Christian Rattemeyer, a biography of his work and a well-informed introduction by co-editor Kaira Cabañas make this publication the first seminal book on Lothar Baumgarten. As with many of the artist's previous book projects, the form and typograph of both these publications were conceived by Walter Nikkels for and with Lothar Baumgarten. English text.

Joanna Vickery-Barkow