Sottomessa alla tirannia del Particolare (...) l'opera d'arte immortale e tanto a lungo desiderata mi appariva trasformata in una piccola vecchia di pietra, di cui avrei potuto misurare l'altezza e contare le rughe.
M. Proust

(Italian)

Remedies to the Absence of Reiner Ruthenbeck, including contributions by Magdalena Holzhey, Vincenzo Latronico, Simone Menegoi and Dieter Roelstraete, is a collection of texts around the concept of an exhibition which includes no actual artworks by the artist it exhibits.

Published to accompany a documentary retrospective of German conceptual artist Reiner Ruthenbeck's 60s and 70s sculptures, Remedies to the Absence of Reiner Ruthenbeck investigates the methods, reasons and motives for the recent surge in documentary displays in the visual arts, with a particular focus on the relationship between sculpture and photography.

Existing in English, German and Italian, under three different book forms and designs, and with slight discrepancies between the three versions, Remedies to the Absence of Reiner Ruthenbeck itself questions the relationship between the "original" and the "derivative" which ultimately grounds the concept it investigates - that of documentation, the possibility of using a copy, be it a text or a picture, to summon the presence of what is afar, as a remedy to its absence. Of course, not all remedies work.