Hans-Ulrich Obrist

A volume of contemporary formulas by leading artists and scientific minds evaluates the formula as a building block for human knowledge, from symbolic representations in mathematics to theoretical postulates in observable phenomena, in a lighthearted tribute that shares personal formulas as they express realities in contemporary life.

Formulas for Now

Asad Raz̤ā

Drawing on his own experiences and inspirations - from staging his first exhibition in his tiny Zurich kitchen in 1986 to encounters and conversations with artists, exhibition makers and thinkers alive and dead - Hans Ulrich Obrist's Ways of Curating looks to inspire all those engaged in the creation of culture. Moving from meetings with the artists who have inspired him (including Gerhard Richter and Gilbert and George) to the creation of the first public museums in the 18th century, recounting the practice of inspirational figures such as Diaghilev and Walter Hopps, skipping between exhibitions (his own and others), continents and centuries, Ways of Curating argues that curation is far from a static practice. Driven by curiosity, at its best it allows us to create the future.

Ways of Curating

In parallel with the exhibition James Barnor: Stories. Pictures from the Archive (1947-1987), presented in 2022 at the LUMA Foundation as part of the Rencontres d?Arles festival, the book offers a kaleidoscopic overview of the Ghanaian photographer?s oeuvre. From Accra to London and back, from the end of the colonial era to the early 1980s, from studio portraits to press commissions, the reader gains an insight into the process behind Barnor?s best-known images while exploring more personal aspects of this exceptional archive. This exhibition is the first retrospective in France devoted to a photographer who continues, as he approaches the age of 93, to inspire generations of contemporary artists, and whose work is now included in the most prestigious international collections.00Exhibition: LUMA, Arles, France (04.07-25.09.2022).

James Barnor : Stories. The Portfolio 1947-1987

Marcus Du Sautoy

Darian Leader

Anish Kapoor

Julia Peyton-Jones

Stephanie Dieckvoss

The major outdoor sculptures by acclaimed London-based artist Anish Kapoor are currently on show in the beautiful settings of Kensington Gardens, sited to contrast and reflect the changing colours, foliage and weather. Despite their monumental scale, the works appear as pure reflection of their surroundings: the sky, trees, water, wildlife and changing seasons. The distortions in the works mirror-like surfaces call into question the viewers relationship to both the work itself and the surrounding environment. This catalogue of Kapoors installation is brilliantly illustrated with photographs of the works in situ. It is also the first monograph to feature a comprehensive overview of every one of Kapoors stainless steel sculptures.

Turning the World Upside Down

Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, "Do It" began in Paris in 1993 as a conversation between the artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier and Obrist himself, who was experimenting with how exhibition formats could be rendered more flexible and open-ended. The discussion led to the question of whether a show could take "scores" or written instructions by artists as a point of departure, which could be interpreted anew each time they were enacted. To test the idea, Obrist invited 13 artists to send instructions, which were then translated into nine different languages and circulated internationally as a book. Within two years, "Do It" exhibitions were being created all over the world by realizing the artists' instructions. With every version of the exhibition new instructions were added, so that today more than 300 artists have contributed to the project. Constantly evolving and morphing into different versions of itself, "Do It" has grown to encompass "Do It (Museum)," "Do It (Home)," "Do It (TV)," "Do It (Seminar)" as well as some "Anti-Do Its," a "Philosophy Do It" and, most recently, a "UNESCO Children's Do It." Nearly 20 years after the initial conversation took place, "Do It" has been featured in at least 50 different locations worldwide. To mark the twentieth anniversary of this landmark project, this new publication presents the history of this ambitious enterprise and gives new impetus to its future. It includes an archive of artists' instructions, essays contextualizing "Do It," documentation from the history of the exhibition and instructions by 200 artists from all over the world selected by Obrist, among them Carl Andre, Jimmie Durham, Dan Graham, Yoko Ono, Christian Marclay and Rosemarie Trockel, including 60 new instructions from Matias Faldbakken, Theaster Gates, Sarah Lucas, David Lynch, Rivane Neuenschwander and Ai Weiwei, among many others.

The Compendium

Do it

Nikos Papastergiadis

David Malouf

Klaus Biesenbach

John Kaldor

Sophie Forbat

Talia Linz

exhibition catalogue for '13 Rooms', the 27th Kaldor Public Art Project in Australia, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Klaus Biesenbach. Artists include: Marina Abramović Allora and Calzadilla John Baldessari Simon Fujiwara Damien Hirst Joan Jonas Xavier Le Roy Laura Lima Roman Ondák Tino Sehgal Santiago Sierra Xu Zhen Clark Beaumont

Kaldor Public Art Project 27

13 Rooms

R. Crumb

This out-of-sequence first volume in Hans Ulrich Obrist's "Conversation Series" is devoted to the influential cult comics artist, Robert Crumb-creator of "Fritz the Cat, Zap Comics" and "Mr. Natural," among many other iconic underground mainstays. Both Obrist and Crumb are great conversationalists, and here they make a great match: Obrist: Could you tell me a little bit about how you feel about America and world politics right now? Crumb: Well, when I was young I really believed in the revolution. I don't really believe in revolution any more; I'm too old now. I think that any violent over-turning of a government or society causes a reaction that is bad or worse than the thing that they were revolting against to begin with... In the early 1970s I believed in that whole thing. I had basically left-wing sympathies but, I don't know, as someone said about communism: great idea, wrong species!

Robert Crumb

The radical, internationally renowned curator and cultural instigator Hans Ulrich Obrist never looks back. For this book project he compiled a list of quotes on what the "future will be" by some of the creative figures of his acquaintance. Lawrence Weiner replied, "The future is what we construct from what we remember of the past--the present is the time of instantaneous revelation." Olafur Eliasson answered, "The future will be curved." Tino Sehgal: "The future will be so subjective." Trisha Donnelly: "Future?... You must be mistaken." Martha Rosler: "The future always flies in under the radar." Zaha Hadid: "The fuiture is not." And many others weighed in. The design of this book was composed by M/M, Paris. The edition is limited to 600 copies, each of which is numbered, signed by Obrist, stamped by M/M and includes your own sticker.

The Future Will Be...

Enzo Mari

Volume 15 of "The Conversation Series" features a riveting dialogue between series editor and cultural catalyst Hans Ulrich Obrist and the renowned Italian designer Enzo Mari. More concerned with theoretical issues in design than commercial success, Mari is one of the most thoughtful and intellectually provocative designers of the late twentieth century. His work as a product and furniture designer, as well as a writer, teacher and artist, has proved influential both to his peers and to younger generations. In this volume, Mari discusses his iconic designs for cutting-edge production houses Danese, Olivetti and Castelli, his experience of the contradictory aspects of postwar Italy and his unique take on the design trends of the 1960s and 1970s. Enzo Mari was born in 1932 in Novara, Italy. He has most recently completed a series of tubular aluminum chairs for Vienna's Gebruder Thonet and a collection for the Japanese home store Muji.

Hans Ulrich Obrist and Enzo Mari: the Conversation Series

Gerhard Richter

Birgit Pelzer

Guy Tosatto

Concerned with the relationship between painting and the technologically mediated image of photography, Gerhard Richter is recognized worldwide as one of the greatest living artists. With a brush that deftly and romantically captures abstract details and blurred newspaper images alike, he has transformed our understanding of art in the age of photographic reproduction and mass-media imagery. 100 Pictures is a faithful reprint of the intimate, cloth-bound book Richter created in 1996 as a nontraditional anthology of his oeuvre. Following a short introduction to his early work, which features pictures long kept in his studio, 100 Pictures presents Richter's output from an intensive period of work between 1995-96. Though this period mainly saw the production of abstract works, it also begat a cycle of eight small-format paintings of an intimate, private nature, which portray his young wife Sabine as a Madonna-and-child. 100 Pictures is an extraordinary document of contemporary art, finally back in print.

100 Pictures

Elisabeth Bronfen

Peggy Phelan

Ann O'Day Maples Professor of the Arts/Professor of English Peggy Phelan

Pipilotti Rist

A tour of the whimsical world of the internationally renowned video artist.

Pipilotti Rist. Ediz. Inglese

Marina Abramović

Hans Ulrich Obrist met Marina Abramovic in various circumstances and locations, in train stations, hotels and galleries as well as in her own private studio. An astonishing closeness comes out of this: the artist, who has been making her body the centre of attention of decades, in numerous, often agonizing performances, is revealed here as a fascinating personality. She speaks openly about her childhood and her parent's strict discipline, about her artistic work and the many journeys associated with it and of course about the preparations for her epochal retrospective, which will open at MoMA, New York in March 2010. Various colleagues and companions, such as Gustav Metzger, the Old Master of action art (Conversation Series, Vol. 16), also join in the conversation on occasion, aiding further insight into the life and work of this captivating artist.

Rem Koolhaas

In this traditional paperback, renowned critic and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist teams up with Dutch avant-garde architect and paradigm-shifting intellectual, Rem Koolhaas, for a discussion of Koolhaas's work in China, his designs for Prada, architecture as metaphor, and the development of urbanism in the slipstream of globalization.

Zaha Hadid

'The Conversation Series' of titles presents a number of interviews between Hans Ulrich Obrist and leading figures in art and architecture.

Shumon Basar

Charles Arsène-Henry

Transcripts of interviews by Hans Ulrich Obrist with architects, artists, curators, film-makers, musicians, philosophers, social theorists and urbanists.

Hans-Ulrich Obrist

Books

Your next favorite book is out there