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Unerhörte Bilder, die den amerikanischen Mythos hinterfragen
Das viel diskutierte Kultbuch in neuer Auflage

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´"Ich bin jedem dankbar, der das Unmögliche vollbringt und mir ein Bild davon macht. Dann brauche ich es nämlich nicht zu tun und weiß doch, wie es war." So Salman Rushdie über Taryn Simon in seinem Essay in diesem Band. Tatsächlich zeigt Taryn Simon ( 1975) in ihrer berühmten Werkserie, die sie 2007 vollendete, das Versteckte, das Verbotene, das Unbetretbare in den USA . Was unter der Oberfläche des amerikanischen Mythos und des funktionierenden Alltags verborgen liegt. Nach mühevollen Verhandlungen im Vorfeld hielt sie mit der Großbildkamera im Bild fest, was sonst Eingeweihten vorbehalten bleibt: Container mit radioaktivem Atommüll, die Kunstsammlung des CIA, die Außenanlage einer "Body Farm" oder das Innere einer Bärenhöhle im Winter Die Künstlerin erläutert jedes ihrer fast 60 Bilder mit einer kurzen Beschreibung, die sowohl die Komplexität der Motive als auch der Beziehung zwischen Text und Bild betont.

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I am always immensely grateful to people who do impossible things on my behalf and bring back the picture. It means I don t have to do it, but at least I know what it looks like. This is what Salman Rushdie wrote about artist Taryn Simon in his essay in this volume. And, in fact, in her famous series of works, which she finished in 2007, Simon ( 1975) does indeed show the hidden, the forbidden and inaccessible within American borders. She reveals what lies concealed beneath the surface of America´s mythology and daily functioning. After conducting painstaking negotiations, she uses her large-format camera to capture what is usually only reserved for the initiated: containers of radioactive nuclear waste, the CIA s art collection, the outdoor facility of a body farm or the inside of a hibernating bear´s cave. The artist annotates each of her almost sixty pictures with descriptive texts highlighting the complexities of both her subjects and the relationship between text and image.

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I am always immensely grateful to people who do impossible things on my behalf and bring back the picture. It means I dont have to do it, but at least I know what it looks like. This is what Salman Rushdie wrote about artist Taryn Simon in his essay in this volume. And, in fact, in her famous series of works, which she finished in 2007, Simon ( 1975) does indeed show the hidden, the forbidden and inaccessible within American borders. She reveals what lies concealed beneath the surface of America´s mythology and daily functioning. After conducting painstaking negotiations, she uses her large-format camera to capture what is usually only reserved for the initiated: containers of radioactive nuclear waste, the CIAs art collection, the outdoor facility of a body farm, or the inside of a hibernating bears cave. The artist annotates each of her almost sixty pictures with descriptive texts highlighting the complexities of both her subjects and the relationship between text and image.

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