Dieter Roth

Presented by:Victoria Mcgillicuddy

Annie EdwardsJoe O’Donnell

Artist Profile: Name: Dieter Roth (Also known as Dita Rot)

Born: 21st April 1930, Hannover Germany

Died: 5th June 1998, Switzerland (age 68)

Areas of Work: - Book Art - Prints- Sculpture - Found Materials - Rotting Food

Key Points - Location1930

- Sent from Nazi Germany to Switzerland to live with Foster Parents

- Received Graphic Design training in Bern Switzerland

- Took a particular interest in Avant-Garde design and poetry

Dieter Roth moved relatively frequently, living in places such as:

• Reykjavik

• London

• Basel

• Hamburg

• Rhode Island

Roth’s movements heavily affected his works, demonstrated by the wide variety of his works

Key Point – Decomposition

- Dieter Roth frequently used materials that could decompose in order to show the passing of time with no attempt to preserve, conserve or intervene with the work

- Interested in chance and works uncontrolled by Artists

- The factors in which the Art is created, such as temperature, light, bacteria and insects would affect Artworks after the Artist declared the work complete – This was an aspect key to Dieter Roth.

- Roth had a key interest in grease stains, mold formations, damage from insects, and blotches of rotting organic material.

- Roth’s work got to the point where it relied upon natural aspects of his pieces, to the point where nature itself became the Artist

Key Point – Other facts• In 1949, Dieter Roth suffers a nervous breakdown and

attempted to take his own life.

• Dieter was known to have been suffering from heart problems during his life

• In 1969, because of the decay involved in Dieter Roth’s work, his Düsseldorf Academy studio work was cleared out and destroyed.

• In 1975 Dieter Roth founded the Zeitschrift fur Alles journal, which chose to publish anything that was submitted to it

• http://www.artnet.com/artists/dieter-roth/ - Online Auction, where Dieter Roth’s work is being sold today

• Most famous for his book Art, in particular “Literaturwurst”

Works of Art

Dieter Roth

Self Portrait as a Drowning Man

Year:1974

Medium:Acrylic paint, watercolour and glue on cardboard

Dimensions: 800 x 1003 mm

Ownership:Tate, Purchased 1977

Roth’s many self-portraits are often objects or representations that make no visual reference to his

physical appearance

''When I was young I wanted to become a real

artist,’’

''Then I started doing something I felt wasn't real art, and it was through this that I became a well-known

artist.'' Dieter Roth

Literaturwurst[Literaturwurst]

Dieter Roth

''Here lies the carcass of a man who didn't

know who he was and where he was heading.''

Dieter Roth on his own death