After a short period of “unbearable lightness of being,” the social gravitation begins to be felt again. In his book Joshua Simon describes and analyzes the growing weight of the technical, economic, material basis of our society. The author’s sensibility for today’s Zeitgeist is at the same time entertaining and precise.—Boris Groys

Since the so-called dematerialization of currencies and art practices in the late 1960s and early 1970, we have witnessed a move into what Joshua Simon calls an economy of neomaterialism. With this, several shifts have occurred: the focus of labor has moved from production to consumption, the commodity has become the historical subject, and symbols now behave like materials.

Neomaterialism explores the meaning of the world of commodities, and reintroduces various notions of dialectical materialism into the conversation on the subjectivity and vitalism of things. Here, Simon advocates for the unreadymade, sentimental value, and the promise of the dividual as a means for a vocabulary in this new economy of meaning.

Reflecting on general intellect as labor and the subjugation of an overqualified generation to the neofeudal order of debt finance—with a particular focus on dispossession and rent economy, post-appropriation display strategies and negation, the barricade and capital’s technocratic fascisms—Neomaterialism merges traditions of epic communism with the communism that is already here.

Design by Avi Bohbot.

Born in Flames—the publication—is the complete authorised graphic translation of Lizzie Borden’s mythical 1983 film ‘Born in Flames’. Kaisa Lassinaro’s post-facto screenplay captures all the political energy and visual brilliance of Borden’s film, which describes a futuristic society (eerily similar to our own) where the achievements of a past revolution are threatened by reactionary sexist forces. The film suggests various modes of female resistance—from armed struggle to intellectual opposition—without endorsing one strategy over another. The published version of Born in Flames allows for a frame-by-frame analysis of the film’s complex plot and soundtrack, with songs by The Bloods and Red Crayola. Included is an interview with Borden conducted by Lassinaro, in which the filmmaker looks back on the making of the film in late 70s/early 80s New York.

Published by Museum Ludwig, Köln, on the occasion of We Call It Ludwig, 2016. With texts by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Jean-Marie Strauß.

Catalogue for the exhibitions Isa Genzken: Skulpturen, Zeichnungen, Fotografien and Horst Schuler: Bilder held 11 November–20 December, 1979 at Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld.

This catalogue is an extension of the book Giorgio Griffa: Works 1965–2015. Published on the occasion of the cycle of exhibitions dedicated to the work of Giorgio Griffa at Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva; Museu de Arte Contemporanea de Serralves, Porto; Bergen Kunsthall; and Fondazione Giuliani, Rome in 2015 and 2016.

From 1967 through to his most recent works, Giorgio Griffa’s painting studies have been based upon three fundamental areas of enquiry: rhythm, sequence and sign. Griffa uses a similar protocol when creating his works on paper, which have very rarely been exhibited and have remained virtually unknown to the public. One need only look through the critical literature devoted to his work, or at the long list of solo and group exhibitions he has been involved in, to see the extent to which drawing is taken into consideration only very occasionally and marginally, even by his closest commentators. However, it seems clear from the quantity and especially the quality of these works that drawing and watercolour are not just some secondary activity for this artist, or in any way subordinate to painting. As Griffa himself points out in a recent interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist, drawing is not a ‘plan for a painting,’ even though in many cases it does provide ideas for later works. Rather, it is an autonomous aspect of his work and a kind of parallel activity to painting.

Spanning more than three decades, “In Part” brings together a full spectrum of the New York–based artist, writer and activist Julie Ault’s published texts through selected extracts in a single volume. Reprinted in chronological sequence alongside a selection of full-length texts, this series of excerpts offers a timeline of Ault’s artistic development, longstanding political concerns and dynamic interpersonal affinities. The book is edited by Julie Ault and Nicolas Linnert and has an introductory text by Lucy R. Lippard. The book is published in collaboration of Dancing Foxes Press and Galerie Buchholz.