Seth Siegelaub: Better Read Than Dead Writings and Interviews 1964–2013

“Better Read Than Dead” was the title that the American art dealer, curator, publisher and researcher Seth Siegelaub (1941–2013) had chosen for an anthology of his own writings—one of the projects for which he never found the time, busy as he was running his global one-man operation. Edited by a group of researchers and curators who each collaborated with Siegelaub, the book brings together his personal notes, public interviews, and precious few published writings into one volume, offering unprecedented insight into the many facets of his inquisitive life.

Siegelaub was the first dealer and exhibition organizer in New York to focus on conceptual art, and remains best-known for his innovative “catalogue-exhibitions” with Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Joseph Kosuth, and Lawrence Weiner. Yet his career interests stretched far beyond. The selected writings, interviews, extended bibliography and chronology gathered in Seth Siegelaub: “Better Read than Dead” Writings and Interviews 1964–2013 fill the historical gaps in the sprawling network of exhibitions, publications, projects, and collections that constitute Siegelaub’s life’s work.

Seth Siegelaub: "Better Read Than Dead" Writings and Interviews 1964–2013 was edited by Marja Bloem, Lauren van Haaften-Schick, Sara Martinetti, and Jo Melvin.

Published by Koenig Books, London, and Stichting Egress Foundation, Amsterdam, 2020.