Carsten Nicolai is among the very few artists of our times who convincingly work in the conflicting zone between art, science, and sound. His works lay open the functional principles of codification, self-organization and perception: the hand of the artist recedes and the classical notion of an oeuvre is put into question.

The works of Carsten Nicolai create an elementary, universal language that attempts to elude simple rationality, requesting instead to be perceived by an individual subject. If systems of classification and their immediate elementary impact are at the basis of his work, Nicolai puts them to use in order to produce a space of experience.

The book includes a survey of Nicolai’s works, from his installation at Documenta X to the new pieces produced on the occasion of his major solo exhibition at Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich. Carsten Nicolai is also the first laureate of the newly established award Zurich-Prize.

English and German text.