Library and Artists Books
A large part of Dieter Roth’s experimental artist books, children’s books, as well as his poetry and prose – many of them long out of print and now true rarities – are part of the Schaulager’s reference library and can be explored on site in the reading room.
In total, 450 works by and about Dieter Roth are held in the Schaulager library. A few selected examples from this rich body of his literary work are presented here.
The library’s full collection can be accessed via the swisscovery portal (basel.swisscovery.org) and consulted on site at Schaulager by appointment.
Information on library access is available here.
The Artist’s Book Trophies
125 Two-Handed Speedy Drawings (1979) brings together a series of 125 so-called “two-handed speedy drawings,” which Roth executed simultaneously with both hands. The resulting lines are deliberately uncontrolled, spontaneous, and characterized by high speed, giving rise to a drawing process that oscillates between chance and physical gesture.
As an artist’s book, Trophies documents this experimental approach in serial form: the drawings are reproduced and simultaneously supplemented by an accompanying original “trophy”—an original drawing bound into the book—thereby overlapping uniqueness and reproduction.
The work exemplifies Roth’s interest in processuality, materiality, and the dissolution of traditional authorship: drawing appears here less as a controlled act than as an immediate, body-bound action that continues and is reflected in the medium of the book.
Das Weinen: Das Wähnen Band 2A (Tränenmeer 4)
Das Weinen (Das Wähnen) Volume 2A (Tränenmeer 4) is a literary work by Dieter Roth, which he published in 1978. This multi-layered artist’s publication served as inspiration for Christoph Marthaler’s production at Theater Basel.
In fragmentary form, the work explores themes such as perception, memory, and self-observation, deliberately subverting conventional narrative structures. Roth’s experimental approach to language and material makes the publication a vivid example of his artistic practice at the intersection of literature and visual art.
Stuttgart, London: Edition Hansjörg Mayer: 1978
