Hofstetter Kurt: Ich schaue in den Himmel um mich zu erden (“I look up to the sky to ground myself”), edited by Philipp Konzett, is a massive and intriguing monograph exploring the work of the Vienna-based media art pioneer Hofstetter Kurt. Part theoretical examination, part poetic exploration, it is dense, lyrical and provocative. At exactly 300 pages, and with hundreds of color photographs in addition to numerous black and white images and diagrams, it is a philosophical and technical treatise masquerading as an attractive coffee table book. The text, in both German and English, includes a lengthy set of descriptive and analytical essays, heavily illustrated and annotated, by Hofstetter’s longtime creative collaborator, the artist and art historian Barbara Doser. A critical text by the prominent curator and art theorist Bazon Brock is also included. Together, these place Hofstetter’s work in historical context.
Hofstetter, as Philipp Konzett notes in his foreword,...