Vilém Flusser: Bodenlos: Eine philosophische Autobiographie (1992) [German]

Vilem Flusser beschreibt in seiner Autobiographie seine lebenslange geistige Gegenbewegung zum Sturz in den Abgrund, der sich dem Leben in diesem Jahrhundert auftat. Der Prager Jude Flusser, dessen Familie von den Nazis ermordet wurde, flüchtete 1938 über London nach Sao Paulo, wo er bis zu seiner Rückkehr nach Europa in den 70er Jahren lebte und lehrte. Der Verlust der vertrauten Welt durch den Terror des Faschismus, die existentielle Erfahrung der Bodenlosigkeit sucht Flusser denkend zu verwandeln in eine Freiheit des menschlichen Sich-Entwerfens, eine Freiheit, die jedoch immer um ihren Preis weiß. Die Autobiographie ist zugleich eine Annäherung an Flussers Denken, das seine große Anziehungskraft auch aus dem hier bezeugten persönlichen Erfahrungshintergrund bezieht.

With an Introduction by Milton Vargas
Editorial Notes by Edith Flusser and Stefan Bollmann
Publisher Bollmann, Bensheim & Düsseldorf, 1992
ISBN 3927901199, 9783927901193
295 pages
via joandleefe

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Alice Goldfarb Marquis: Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare (2002)

“One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Duchamp, the son of a successful notary, was also a shrewd manager of his image and interests — so much so that many of those who have written about him have been dazzled by his self-created persona when trying to assess his elusive legacy and equally elusive character. Marcel Duchamp: The Bachelor Stripped Bare is not the first full-length biography of Duchamp, but it is the first to present him in all his human contradictions and to take a refreshingly objective look at his real contribution to modern art. The well-known facts are beautifully explored here: Duchamp’s myriad personal relations (with family, lovers, collectors, and artists ranging from Man Ray, Picabia, and Breton to the Stettheimer sisters and the Arensbergs); the creation of major works such as the readymades and the Large Glass; his passion for chess and presumed abandonment of painting. But beyond this, author Alice Goldfarb Marquis looks past the diffident, humorous mask that Duchamp wore with friend and acquaintance alike, to explore the passions and insecurities that motivated many of his artistic and personal evolutions. She separates the artist from the con artist, to determine just how profound an influence Duchamp has really been. The books is based on numerous unpublished sources and first-hand interviews.”

Publisher MFA Publications, Boston, 2002
ISBN 0878466444, 9780878466443
368 pages
via agitprop

Publisher

PDF (65 MB, updated on 2016-6-6)

Louise O’Konor: Viking Eggeling, 1880-1925: Artist and Film-maker: Life and Work (1971)

Louise O’Konor’s book is the first biography of Viking Eggeling, a Swedish avant-garde artist and filmmaker connected to dada, constructivism and abstract art and one of the pioneers of absolute film and visual music. The book is a result of 12 years of research in public and private archives in Europe and in the USA, and is a significant contribution to the history of dada and early abstract, animated film.

Translated by Catherine G. Sundström and Anne Bibby
Publisher Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1971
299 pages
via DiVA Academic Archive

PDF (165 MB, updated on 2013-12-8)
Watch Eggeling’s Diagonale Symphonie (1924) on UbuWeb