Klaus Staeck - Pornografie

reprint 2007

Come in voyeurs, expectations will be disappointed here. This book is full of obscene images, but in the understanding of the philosopher Herbert Marcuse: “It is not the image of a naked woman that is obscene, but that of a general displaying the medals he has earned in a war of aggression.” It is an irritating panopticon of everyday violence: press photos of street fights, naked war victims or tortured prisoners are followed by staged body art images and all kinds of found objects relating to lust, power, exposure and surveillance. The book is a total work of art, offensive in many senses of the word. As an artistic manifesto on violence in the 21st century, it could not be more topical. But “Pornography” was published back in 1971 and has become an outstanding and timeless document of political art.