Margret Eicher. It's A Digital World

An angled view of the book It's a Digital World! by Margret Eicher. The cover has a textured red and orange background and features a pixelated, black-and-white image of the Death Star from Star Wars. A black speech bubble emerging from the Death Star contains the title in white text.

A close-up, angled shot of the corner of a book titled It's a Digital World. The book has a heavily textured cover with a red, orange, and yellow woven pattern. The title is in white font inside a black speech bubble, positioned over a black-and-white illustration of a shell fossil. The spine and edge of the book are visible against a white background.

The back cover of a book on a white background. The cover features a close-up, highly textured image of a tapestry woven with threads in vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow, and blue. Two columns of white text, one in German and one in English, are superimposed on the image, describing the artist Margret Eicher. A website address and a barcode are visible at the bottom.

A photo of an open art book showing a two-page illustration. The artwork blends a classical style with modern themes, featuring people in punk-rock attire alongside classical nudes in a room resembling ancient ruins. The ornate border incorporates video game interface elements and a figure resembling Lara Croft holding two pistols.

An open book displays a two-page spread of an art installation. The artwork consists of long, vertical strips with a black-and-white grid pattern, featuring repeated and inverted portraits of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. The photo on the right shows the strips hanging in a gallery and curling onto the floor.

An open art book displays a two-page spread. The left page contains German text, and the right page has English text titled Immaterialization and Transfiguration through Imagery. On the right are six oval artworks that collage modern celebrities onto classical paintings of heavenly scenes, each overlaid with a word like DIGNITY or VULNERABILITY.

The cover of Margret Eicher's book shows the Death Star on a woven tapestry background with a speech bubble that reads It's a Digital World!.

A close-up of a woven tapestry depicting a video game instruction. In a text box with a rounded border, the words Push UP and DOWN in rhythm to kill the monster are woven in a blocky, pixel-like font against a light blue background. The surrounding tapestry features a rocky landscape in shades of blue, yellow, and brown.

A long, panoramic, black-and-white artwork hangs on a dark gallery wall, receding into the distance. The piece is a highly detailed, tapestry-like frieze depicting a complex, futuristic narrative with figures in VR gear and armor, alongside fantastical architecture, blending historical and science-fiction elements.

A detailed tapestry blending classical art with modern pop culture. The composition is divided by ornate columns into scenes set in a grand, ruined interior. Nude figures in classical poses are juxtaposed with people in contemporary, edgy attire. Figures resembling video game characters, including Lara Croft holding pistols, are integrated into the columns. The bottom border is designed like a video game user interface with navigation icons, contrasting with a frieze of birds at the top.

The title page of a publication shown in two columns, with German on the left and English on the right. The title is Machtanalyse und Empowerment / Power Analysis and Empowerment. The subtitle is Margret Eicher und die Wiedergeburt der Tapisserie aus dem Geist der Postmoderne / Margret Eicher and the Rebirth of Tapestry from the Spirit of Postmodernism. The author is Wolfgang Ullrich.

A black and white two-page book spread. On the left, a graphic poster features the word LOBLOB repeated and mirrored, along with pixelated patterns and four photographs of a man in athletic poses. On the right, a photograph shows an art installation in a tiled room with an arched bridge, featuring tall, geometrically patterned panels on the wall that correspond to the design on the left.

An interior shot of a gallery displaying several large, surreal posters with German text. From left to right, a poster shows a headless body and a glowing hand, a blue poster features white sausages, and a third shows a woman in a bathtub holding up a television with her feet.

An interior view of a modern art gallery with white walls and light hardwood floors. On display are several large, intricate tapestries. In the foreground, a black-and-white tapestry on the right wall features four characters resembling the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flanking a man. Another tapestry is partially visible on the left, and a more colorful, classical-style tapestry hangs at the end of a distant hallway.

A tapestry with an ornate border depicting a surreal pastoral scene. On the left, a man in 18th-century hunting attire stands with a dog and a rifle. In the center, a Black man in a modern light-colored suit leans against a futuristic silver convertible. On the right, a nude woman with red hair kneels on the ground next to the car.

An ornate, white-walled room with a high ceiling, a crystal chandelier, and a parquet floor. Two large, colorful, and detailed tapestries hang on the main wall, flanking a central white double door. The room is also furnished with two marble fireplaces.

A two-page spread from an art book showing two different pieces from 1999. On the left, a collage titled Amazing Amazon Stars features repeating star-like patterns made from cutouts of women in gold bikinis and Star Wars TIE fighters. On the right, a photograph of an installation titled Boygroup shows hundreds of black silhouettes of armed baby-like figures hanging from the ceiling in a large, stone hall with arched ceilings.

A complex, monochrome tapestry-style artwork depicting various versions of the video game character Lara Croft. She appears in action poses with guns against a collage background featuring a Mayan pyramid, a Star Wars AT-ST walker, and a large ship. The composition is overlaid with a technical flowchart and a diagram of a video game controller. A decorative border at the bottom resembles a historical frieze with figures on horseback.

A black background with two columns of text written in a thin, white, stylized, uppercase font. The left column lists Dobby, Elon Musk, Frankenstein's Monster, Gerhard Richter, Godzilla, Gollum, and Der Heilige Paulus. The right column lists Horst Mahler, The Incredible Hulk, Jeannie, Julien Assange, King Kong, King Louie, and Lady Gaga.

Margret Eicher. It's A Digital World

€ 48.00

VAT included. Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout

Amount

Edited by: Wolfgang Ullrich

March 2025, 200 Pages, 220 Photos

Paperback

280mm x 342mm

ISBN: 978-3-7757-5896-3

HATJE CANTZ VERLAG
Mommsenstr. 27
10629 Berlin
Germany
E-Mail: contact@hatjecantz.de

According to Article 9(7) of the GPSR Regulation, no additional security information is required for books without supplements or special functions.

Press download

Spectacular tapestries with a critical message

For over 25 years, Margret Eicher has been creating a unique oeuvre of tapestries. With precise knowledge of the history of this genre, she revives it and gives it a surprising and convincing topicality. Where once the nobility celebrated themselves on tapestries and demonstrated their own power, Margret Eicher's tapestries feature the superstars of today. At the same time, however, she gives room to those who have had little or no power to date. The formerly affirmative character of tapestry art is thus expanded to include a critical dimension, as Margret Eicher turns it into a tool of profound media reflection. There can hardly be any other oeuvre today that presents the consequences of the digital revolution in such a clear and differentiated way.

An exceptionally designed book with spectacular sprayed edges.

Margret Eicher (*1955, Viersen) studied drawing at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. After completing her studies, however, she pursued the art movement of Copy Art. Since the early 2000s, the artist has been known for her Medientapisserien®.

EXHIBITION

ZKM | Karlsruhe

August 3 - November 10, 2024

Albrechtsburg Meissen

April 18, 2024 - May 4, 2025