Ilya und Emilia Kabakov

Flies are an important motif in Kabakov’s work. In an essay, the philosopher Boris Groys interprets their relevance. For Kabakov, the fly functions as a “metaphor for human existence <...>. Of course the word ‘fly’ does not carry the same great traditions in the same way that words like ‘Being’, ‘Life’ and ‘Thought’ do. However, it can function in the same way. Stating this fact illustrates the irony involved in dealing with sublime philosophical concepts <…>.” This book presents Ilya Kabakov’s brilliant and world-famous artistic project Life of Flies, with its installations, texts and theatrical mise-en-scenes, which can be seen as a discourse on life and at the same time a parody of life. Other catalogues published in Russian language by KERBER VERLAG on the occasion of the Ilya and Emilia Kabakov retrospective in Moscow 2008: „An Alternative History of Art“ ISBN 978-3-86678-198-6 „On The ‚Total’ Installation“ ISBN 978-3-86678-199-3 „The Red Vagon“ ISBN 978-3-86678-201-3