The Forces Behind the Forms: Geology, Matter, Process in Contemporary Art
Snoek, 2016

Edited by Beate Ermacora, Martin Hentschel and Helen Hirsch 

The Forces Behind the Forms, titled after a phrase coined by artist Per Kirkeby, who also coined the term Anthropocene, takes up the widely conducted debate over how much our environment is influenced by human activity. Comprehensive and fully illustrated, this substantial hardcover catalog documents a variety of compelling projects and installations by 12 artists Olafur Eliasson, Per Kirkeby, Roger Hiorns and Giuseppe Penone, among others engaging the geo-aesthetics of matter and transformative processes in both nature and art in installations, images and objects. Each section devoted to an artist and project is supported by extensive color and black-and-white images and accompanied by explanatory texts. Complementing the artist sections and broadening the discourse are six essays by art historians, scientists and curators who discuss the artistic use of geological history as a space for thought in relation to politics and science, and the consequences of our relationship to nature, matter and, ultimately, to ourselves. 

English
19 × 27 cm
224 pages
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3864421716