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On October 5, 2012, the German national newspaper
Die Welt published its daily issue--but things looked . . . different. Quieter. The sensations of the day, forgotten as soon as they're read, were missing, replaced with an unprecedented calm, extracted with care from the chaos of the contemporary.
That calm was the work of Gerhard Richter, who had been granted control over
Die Welt for that single day, taking over and imprinting all thirty pages of the newspaper with his personal stamp: images from quiet moments amid unquiet times, the demotion of politics from its primary position, the privileging of the private and personal over the public, and, above all, artful, moving contrasts between sharpness and softness. He had created an unprecedented work of mass art.
Among the many people to praise the work was writer Alexander Kluge, who instantly began writing stories to accompany Richter's images. This book, the second collaboration between Kluge and Richter, brings their stories and images together, along with new words and artworks created specifically for this volume. The result,
Dispatches from Moments of Calm, is a beautiful, meditative interval in the otherwise unremitting press of everyday life, a masterpiece by two acclaimed artists working at the height of their powers.
About the author
Alexander Kluge is an author and filmmaker whose books include
The Devil's Blind Spot,
Cinema Stories,
Air Raid, and
30 April 1945, the last two published by Seagull Books.
Gerhard Richter is perhaps the leading visual artist in the world and, with Kluge, coauthor of
December, also published by Seagull Books.
Nathaniel McBride is a writer and translator who lives in London.
