Between Two Deaths presents a critical artistic reflection on the political, social, and cultural trend toward melancholic introspection. The effects can be felt everywhere: conservative cultural debates, insecurity, and lethargy are spreading. Key terms for this growing trend in contemporary art are neo-Romanticism, angst, horror, and neo-goth.Featuring essays by philosophers, psychoanalysts, art historians, and sociologists on topics such as melancholy and melodrama in contemporary art, this publication does not reject this diagnosis, but challenges an affirmative attitude toward this situation while suggesting alternatives. An appendix with texts on the works included and brief biographies and bibliographies of each artist completes the volume. Exhibition schedule: ZKM, Karlsruhe, May 12–August 19, 2007