Marion von Osten Books

In the Making: In the Desert of Modernity: Colonial Planning and After. A Research-Based Practice explores the artistic and curatorial methods of Marion von Osten (1963-2020). Through the development of her significant exhibition and related projects, von Osten shares insights into research practices, collaborative efforts, field trips, and encounters. While the book ColonialModern. Aesthetics of the Past, Rebellions for the Future (edited by Tom Avermaete, Serhat Karakayali, and Marion von Osten) focuses on the relationship between architecture, urban planning, and colonialism, In the Making delves into the conceptual and design aspects of exhibition making, revealing connections that need to be reestablished. Central to this exploration are the practices of walking, talking, listening, meeting, and relating, which are vital components of inquiry, particularly in a postcolonial context. The work addresses spatial politics, power dynamics, and social struggles during colonial times, liberation movements, and decolonization in North Africa. In the Making embraces unexpected encounters and paves the way for parainstitutional and feminist approaches to exhibition making.

Featuring the latest research commissioned on the occasion of the Bauhaus centenary, this book explores the global influence of the renowned Bauhaus school of arts and its famed artists. Bauhaus Imaginista marks the centennial anniversary of this fascinating and popular school of art, which championed the idea of artists working together as a community. The Bauhaus reconnected art with everyday life and was active in the fields of architecture, performance, design, and visual art. Founded by Walter Gropius, its faculty included such luminaries as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, La´szlo´ Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers. Placing emphasis on the international dissemination and reception of the Bauhaus, this book expresses the Bauhaus’ influence, philosophy, and history beyond Germany. Rethinking the school from an international perspective, it sets its entanglements against a century of geopolitical change, as many of its artists fled World War II Germany. Bauhaus Imaginista takes readers on a global visual tour of Bauhaus influence from art and design museums to campus galleries and art institutes in India, Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, Berlin, and the United States.

Soziale Bewegungen, Subkulturen, künstlerische und politische Avantgarden, aber auch die vielfältigen Mikropolitiken des Alltags demonstrieren, dass die Apparate der Machtausübung den Eigensinn der Subjekte nicht vollständig absorbieren können. Was aber, wenn „Anti-Disziplin“ selbst zur Norm wird? Die Kritik am patriarchalen Familienzusammenhang und die sexuelle Revolution haben alternative Lebensweisen hervorgebracht, in denen sich neue Subjektivitäts- und Beziehungsmodelle entwickelten. Die damit einhergehende soziale Ungebundenheit harmoniert indes trefflich mit den Mobilitäts- und Flexibilitätszumutungen, die den Individuen heute auferlegt werden. Begehrensstrukturen und Praxismodelle ehemals subkultureller Gegenwelten sind heute fester Bestandteil der sich globalisierenden Ökonomie. Wenn Dissidenz, Kritik und Subversion zum Motor der Modernisierung eben jener Verhältnisse werden, die zu unterminieren sie einmal angetreten waren, verkehrt sich das Verhältnis von Norm und Abweichung.