In Paperwork and the Will of Capital, Taryn Simon- one of the most original and challenging conceptual artists of our time - brings together geopolitics, horticultural science, and the art of still life to investigate how the stagecraft of power is created, performed, marketed, and maintained. Simon reconstituted and photographed the flower arrangements from archival images of key events; she then dried and pressed the flowers as herbarium specimens. At signings of political accords, contracts, treaties, and decrees determining some of the gravest issues of our time, powerful men flank floral centerpieces curated to convey the importance of the signatories and represented institutions. This sumptuous book, part nature study, part metaphor, bears witness to an elaborate and intriguing process of artistic deconstruction and reconstruction. From Gagosian Gallery and Hatje Cantz (Berlin).
198 pages. hardcover, 34 x 26 cm, Hatje Cantz (Berlin).