Michael Glasmeier

Das Ganze in Bewegung (The Whole in Motion)
und andere Schriften zum Verhältnis von Kunst und Philosophie (and Other Writings on the Relation between Art and Philosophy)
VOLUME 174

Not a Glorification of the Contemporary

What is the Transcendentalist H.D. Thoreau’s cabin doing on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin? How does familiarity with Protestant scripture altars help us understand text pictures from the 1960s? And in which traditions is methodical silliness rooted? In his essays on art history, Michael Glasmeier, the longtime editor of the FUNDUS series, insistently tries to tie contemporary art back to its venerable antecedents. Where the art world universally glorifies the contemporary, Glasmeier responds by historicizing formal and substantial references. He sets the whole of art history in motion in an effort to explore the “intellectual space” (Aby Warburg) that the works of art span, discussing the output of artists as diverse as Samuel Beckett, Rodney Graham, Tobias Hauser, Yayoi Kusama, Adolph Menzel, Roland Topor, and Johannes Vermeer.

Michael Glasmeier (b. Bochum, 1951) taught art studies at the University of the Arts Bremen and remains active as an essayist, commentator on current affairs, and exhibition curator. His work focuses on the manifold interrelations between fine art and music, language, film, photography, the theater, and comedy.