Zeit

by Christian Boltanski

Christian Boltanski changed everything for a period of time in the 1970s and 1980s. That he continues to contribute meaningfully to the dialogue surrounding accumulation, archives, and loss is somewhat remarkable. His assembled collections, not quite typologies, demonstrate a humility and sensitivity to the suffering of, for instance, Jewish people devastated by the holocaust. He created shrines of remembrance, tacit souvenirs, where in their wake were only numbing statistics. Although Boltanski never really addresses the issue of anti-Semitism directly -- it is always oblique and general in interviews -- his work assumes a collective responsibility for some of history's greatest atrocities.

Hardcover

First published July 1, 1998