Peter Weibel (Art as an Act of Cognition)

The first comprehensive overview of Peter Weibel’s visionary work, covering over half a century of artistic expression from material to machines to media.

Peter Weibel: Art as an Act of Cognition presents the first comprehensive overview of the work of Peter Weibel (1944–2023), an influential artist who anticipated key developments in the art of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries and evolved new utopian visions of a free society and individual freedom. As one of the first artists to create VR installations, Weibel was also a leading figure in the expansion of the arts into other modes of reality. His work revealed the perceptual mechanisms by which reality is constructed not only socially, but also neurologically. This publication, insightfully edited by Jens Lutz and Philipp Ziegler, covers over half a century of his artistic expression, and traces his groundbreaking migration from material to machines to media.

This book follows the trajectory of Weibel’s work with various media—from literature to photography, from performance art to video to expanded cinema, from sculpture, sound art, and light art to digital artworks. It presents more than 400 distinctive creations by Weibel. Insightful essays and texts are accompanied by over 1200 illustrations, many never seen before. Analyses by acclaimed scholars contextualize and situate Weibel’s works within art historical and philosophical discourses, elaborate on his pioneering contributions, and establish his immense influence. The book draws on the artist’s large personal archive, presenting early draft concepts as well as personal historical statements, many of which are published here in English for the first time. Additionally, 35 videos can be accessed via QR code—featuring original works and commentaries by the artist himself.