Thomas Hirschhorn

Stamps designed by Thomas Hirschhorn and issued by the Swiss Government, celebrating his entry in the Venice Biennale in 2011.  

Thomas Hirschhorn is a German artist whose works engage with both politics and philosophy. Made out of the most informal, cheap "trashy" materials, such as cardboard, photocopies, marker pens and the like, it is often ambitious in scale and intent. It is both formally inventive, and also often directly socio-politically engaged. Text is often a prominent element in his work (often used to draw in theoretical content and to foreground or anchor its political investments).

Hirschhorn has included a number of works that set out to create monuments to particular thinkers, and his work has often situated itself outside orthodox gallery spaces, setting out engage both "artworld"and "non-artworld" audiences.

The Bataille Monument, 2002, was presented as part of the Documenta exhibition in Kassel. A "monument" to dissident surrealist philosopher Geroge Bataille was erected in the Friedrich-Wöhler Siedlung housing estate, a low-income housing estate some way from the main "art world" exhibition venues. It included a library of Bataille's books and a snack bar.

Hirschhorn also frequently "maps" both issues and questions that he's interested in and also the key ideas of thinkers he is influenced by:

Foucault Map, 2004.

Where Do I Stand, What Do I Want?, 2007

His work also often develops into complex immersive environments on the grand scale:

Installation view from The Crystal of Resistance, 2011, Swiss Pavilion, Venice Biennale.