Conceived in collaboration with Anselm Kiefer and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Superstrings. A Symposium is the record of an event which took place at White Cube Bermondsey in January 2020 to coincide with Kiefer’s solo exhibition ‘Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot’. For the exhibition, Kiefer endeavoured to merge seemingly extraneous theories and principles across cultures and histories to evoke an understanding of superstring theory – a framework that attempts to articulate the fundamental interactions of the universe and forms of matter. Aligned with the exhibition, this publication provides a compendium of voices, bringing together the writings, lectures, talks and visuals presented at this unique event.

Foregrounding the alchemy of this meeting of minds, the book features key voices from the intersection of art and science, each of whom brings insight and imagination to bear on Kiefer’s artwork and his enduring interests, from scientific theory and contemporary physics to ancient history and mythology. 

Encouraging cross-disciplinary discourse, the volume includes amongst other contributions, an excerpted reprint of art historian Janne Sirén’s 2020 essay ‘Anselm Kiefer and the Realms of Language’ (Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot, published by White Cube, London), alongside a correspondence between Hans Ulrich Obrist and the mathematical and theoretical physicist Edward Witten. A visual essay by Alexander Kluge cites his ‘String Cinema’ – a compilation of five video works which express the semantic connotations of mathematical formulae, integral to understandings of art and astronomy. 

Through rigorous engagement across art and science, Superstrings. A Symposium collects varied perspectives from which to consider both Kiefer’s practice and the inherent irreducibility of superstring theory.

Edited by Honey Luard and Elaine ML Tam
Editorial assistance by Alex Bennett and Louise Parfitt
Designed by Maria Amaro
Printed in London, by Park Communications
240 x 170 mm, softback
224 pages, colour illustrations throughout
ISBN 978-1-910844-62-5
Published by White Cube, 2023

Mónica Bello, Fay Dowker, Marcus du Sautoy, Anselm Kiefer, Alexander Kluge, Priya Natarajan, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Ben Okri, Alexandra Olaya-Castro, Suchitra Sebastian, Janne Sirén, Edward Witten.