Roth Time: The Art of Dieter Roth [Hardcover]

Dirk Dobke (Author), Bernadette Walter (Author), Theodora Vischer (Editor), Dieter Roth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2003

Sculptor, poet, diarist, graphic designer, pioneer artist's book maker, performer, publisher, musician, and, most of all, provocateur, Dieter Roth has long been beloved as an artist's artist. Known for his mistrust of all art institutions and commercial galleries--he once referred to museums as funeral homes--he was also known for his generosity to friends, his collaborative spirit, and for including his family in his art making. Much to the frustration of any gallery that tried to exhibit his work (supposedly none more than once), Roth thumbed his nose at those who valued high purpose and permanence in art. Constantly trying to undo his art education, he would set up systems that discouraged the conventional and the consistent: he drew with both hands at once, preserved the discarded, and reveled in the transitory. Grease stains, mold formations, insect borings, and rotting foodstuffs were just some of the materials used, both out of a fascination with their painterly, textural aspects and for their innate ability to make time visible and play to chance. "More is better," he once said, and more there always was. Roth never stopped working, and he believed that everything could be art, from his sketch pad to the table he sat at, the telephone he talked on, or his friend's kitchen (the kitchen was later sold to a museum). Roth Time: A Dieter Roth Retrospective is published to mark the first major survey exhibition of the artist's work since his death in 1998. Five decades of drawings, graphics, books, paintings, objects, installations, films and video works are represented. The publication offers a window into Roth's creative world, reflecting him and his era. The exhibition is organized by the Schaulager with The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art, New York (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870700359
• ISBN-13: 978-0870700354
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Roth Time, March 2, 2010

By 

S. Zoller "drop acid not bombs" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roth Time: The Art of Dieter Roth (Hardcover)

'Roth Time: the Art of Dieter Roth' is a good introduction and overview of Roth's massive body of work. Following a couple essays, the majority of the book consists of images paired with time line style bullet points of text. In terms of sheer number of images, the book gets an A+, but unfortunately a good portion are small and are squeezed onto pages with several other pictures. Aside from their size, all of the pictures of Roth's art objects are crisp and in color (there are also a number of photographs capturing Roth's performances in black and white).

Overall this is a quality, well put together book, and the only one I have seen in circulation which spans his entire career.

-On a side note, the book is not really a 'hardcover' in the traditional sense of the word. It is more of a cloth hybrid of hard and soft covers, but still very durable and attractive.