''Literaturwurst'' (''Literature Sausage'') is an

Artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

, made by the Swiss-German artist

Dieter Roth Dieter Roth (April 21, 1930 – June 5, 1998) was a Swiss artist best known for his artist's books, editioned prints, sculptures, and works made of found materials, including rotting food stuffs. He was also known as Dieter Rot and Diter Rot. ...

between 1961 and 1974. Each book was made using traditional

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

recipes, but replacing the sausage meat with a book or magazine. The cover of the edition was then pasted onto the skin of the sausage and signed and dated.

'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

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Roth made the first Literature Sausage from a copy of the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'', whilst living in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and gave it to his friend and colleague

Daniel Spoerri Daniel Spoerri (born 27 March 1930) is a Swiss artist and writer born in Romania. Spoerri is best known for his "snare-pictures," a type of assemblage or object art, in which he captures a group of objects, such as the remains of meals eaten by in ...

in 1961. This makes it contemporaneous with his book ''Daily Mirror'' that Roth constructed this year, and was part of a series of books that used found printed matter, such as comics and off-set run up sheets, and rebound them to disrupt their visual authority.

“From time to time I take books I can’t stand or from authors I want to annoy and make: sausages c. 40 cm long, 8 cm thick, should end up as an edition of 50, titled on the outside, signed, numbered, DM100.”

In 1963, after realizing the sausage had “ironic value” he offered the book to

George Maciunas George Maciunas (; lt, Jurgis Mačiūnas; November 8, 1931 – May 9, 1978) was a Lithuanian American artist, born in Kaunas. A founding member and the central coordinator of Fluxus, an international community of artists, architects, composers ...

to be published as a

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

Edition via mutual friend Arthur Kopke. Maciunas turned down the idea, although Roth still participated in a number of early Fluxus events. He returned to the idea in 1966, producing 24 over the next few years, using books such as ''Tin Drum'' by

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Da ...

, ''

To Seek a Newer World ''To Seek a Newer World'' is a 1967 book written by Robert F. Kennedy, in which he outlines his analysis on issues such as the war in Vietnam, nuclear power, welfare, and other issues. In response to the publication, ''New York Times'' critic E ...

'' by

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

and ''The Redhead'' by

Alfred Andersch Alfred Hellmuth Andersch (; 4 February 1914 – 21 February 1980) was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Ma ...

. Uniquely, ''Halbzeit'' (Half-time by

Martin Walser Martin Walser (; born 24 March 1927) is a German writer. Life Walser was born in Wasserburg am Bodensee, on Lake Constance. His parents were coal merchants, and they also kept an inn next to the train station in Wasserburg. He described the e ...

), was cut into unequal halves and hung in a deeply recessed picture frame.

Expansion of the series

In 1970 the series was expanded to include magazines; ''

Quick Quick, as an adjective, refers to something moving with high speed. Quick may also refer to: In business * Quick (restaurant), a Belgian fast-food restaurant chain * Quick (sportswear), a Dutch manufacturer of sportswear * Quick (automobile) ...

,'' ''

Bunte ''Bunte'' (company's preferred spelling in capital letters) is a German-language weekly celebrity gossip magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. The first edition was published in 1948 under the name ''Das Ufer''. Under the leadership of Huber ...

'', ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' and ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

''. These last 25 were manufactured by Editions Rene Block, Berlin, and stuffed into plastic skins rather than intestine.

"If you follow these instructions carefully i shall give you these two sausages to sell and soil and slice and save and save and do whatever else you wish without restriction! so; (don't be or get angry now) get a recipe from a butcher a recipe for sausages and follow this recipe (exactly), so that everything in the recipe that is not MEAT, in the doug or the mass (whatever that's called) included- spices, water, gelatine, onions, garlic etc etc; PUT IT ALL IN, and then in place of meat use the pages of the book!"

Foodstuffs as art

The book was to become the first of a large series of pieces by Roth that used foodstuffs, occasionally preserved, more usually rotting, such as ''Porträt Carl Laszlo'' 1963, in which a portrait of a collector is covered in cheese and chocolate, and ''P.O.TH.A.A.VFB'', a

self-portrait A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...

multiple made of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

and

birdseed Bird food or bird seed is food (often varieties of seeds, Nut (fruit), nuts, and/or Dried fruit, dried fruits) intended for consumption by wild and domestic birds. While most bird food is fed to commercial fowl (such as chicken or Turkey (bird) ...

, at least one of which was left out on a bird-table, to be eaten by birds. The most notorious was the ''Staple Cheese (A Chase)'' exhibition at the Eugenia Butler Gallery,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 1970. This consisted of a series of suitcases filled with cheese, as well as wall mounted cheese intended to drip over a horizontal line below. A different case was opened each day to reveal different states of decay. In less than three weeks, the gallery was 'practically impossible to enter' with prospective viewers having to contend with flies, larvae and maggots as well as the smell. The suitcases remained unsold, and were finally thrown away in the desert by the dealer's husband.

Culmination of the Series: Hegel's Collected Works

The series culminated in 1974 with ''

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...

’s Werke in 20 Bänden'' (''Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s Work in 20 Volumes''), made by the collector Hanns Sohm according to Roth’s instructions. The 20 sausages are hung on two rows on a wooden frame, ‘as in a slaughterhouse.’Roth Time, Dobke & Walter, Lars Müller, 2004, p74 Roth would also publish some of the sausage’s recipes, listing the ingredients used, in ''Gesammelte Werke'', (Collected Works) Vol 16.

Some other artist’s books and multiples by Roth

* Kinderbuch, (Children's Book) 1954 - 57 * Book 1958 * Ideograme, 1959 * Daily Mirror, 1961 * Snow, 1964/1966 * The Copley Book, 1966 * Scheisse, (Shit) 1966 * 246 Little Clouds, 1968 * Ein Taschenzimmer von Diter Rot (A Pocket Room by Diter Rot), 1968 * P.o.TH.A.A.VFB, 1968 * Rabbit-Shit-Rabbit, 1972 * 96 Picadillies, 1977 * Dogs, 1981

References

* Dieter Rot, Books and Graphics, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1973 * Dieter Roth, Books + Multiples, Catalogue Raisonne, Dobke, Kellein, Hansjorg Mayer, 2004 * Roth Time A Dieter Roth Retrospective, Dobke, Lars Muller, 2004 * Roth In America, Dobke and Becker, Thames & Hudson, 2004

Notes

External links

An excellent timeline of Roth's Career on the Dieter Roth Foundation Online
Retrieved 04-10-2008
Another biography on Artnet
04-10-2008 {{Italic title Artists' books Fluxworks Conceptual art German art