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Inselbilder, 1970

Dieter Roth (1930–1998), a Swiss artist born in Hannover, worked with sculpture and painting, artist’s books, Concrete poetry, and print and film techniques. Every item in his seemingly endless archive, including and especially the lowliest of objects, could become a source for art. The Inselbilder is a paradigm for this prolific artist’s work. While living in Iceland in the late 1960s Roth began to randomly accumulate diverse materials, in particular organic, perishable items, on plaster and metal platters. With these he made islands which were intended to deteriorate over time, bearing in the process of their construction the seeds of their destruction. In a room on the third floor, MAMCO presented six of these, which would be re-exhibited several times. The importance of these elements of Roth’s work lies in the fact that they crystallize his interest in impure materials, capturing the quotidian, the impermanence of objects, and the metaphor of insularity.

    MAMCO WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR MULTI-YEAR PARTNERS
    FONDATION MAMCOÉtat de GenèveVille de GenèveJTIFondation LeenaardsFondation genevoise de bienfaisance Valeria Rossi di Montelera
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