Mike Kelley - Peter Fischli, David Weiss

by Mike Kelley, Daniel Kothenschulte, Ingvild Goetz (Editor)

This volume considers the work of Mike Kelley alongside the collaborations of Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Kelley's works are firmly anchored in an ironic, detached attitude towards his Irish Catholic upbringing; he makes use of the pictorial language of specific subcultures and the aesthetics of 'low culture,' to probe such concerns as the representation of childhood and the social construction of sexual behavior and cultural identification. Peter Fischli and David Weiss have been making art together since 1979, addressing various theoretical and philosophical explanations of the world with their subtle and humorous manipulations of common objects. The work of the American Kelley and the Swiss Fischli and Weiss resonate with each other in curious ways, most significantly in their exploration of everyday consciousness and 'low' materials. This publication documents the work of Peter Fischli and David Weiss in the Goetz Collection during a recent exhibition, along with interviews, essays and two texts by Kelley himself.

135 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2001

Reviews

[Caleb Miller]

The Rainald Schumacher essay in here is great, worth re-reading. And honestly, the Boris Groys essay in here is the best thing i've read from him. he talks about how Fischli/Weiss slideshows have a "quasi-affirmative" attitude because the don't deal with illusionstic space in either of the ways painting and cinema do, they just slide from one image to the next on a fade, connection two pictures, which are connected to others... a lack of illusion being "quasi-affirmative"... boris, you live to see another day.

[Al Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Druid Hills books is slimming down from scholarly to prudent, and I picked this up for I think 75% off $20. My edition lacks the cover but the Kelley stuff is pretty nice.

The Swiss stuff is even more fun. Likewise promising criticism in English and German.