Publications
Thomas Dubs
Das Holzorchester (Wooden Orchestra)
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2017
Linen,bound
284 Pages
48 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9524382-1-3
Price: CHF 44.00 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 40.50 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
Order at rüffer & rub, Publisher, Zurich
About this book
From 1975 to 1977 the artist Thomas Dubs built a collection of elementary instruments in Obermeilen on Lake Zurich - the Holzorchester (Wooden Orchestra). Using alder wood, he produced xylophones, log drums, tone blocks, horns, bullroarers and experimental string instruments, as well as a Rohrophon with six tubes, a friction idiophone, a harp with eleven strings and numerous percussion, wind and special-effect instruments made of hazel, beech, lime and rosewood. The construction of the instruments was inspired by Indonesian, South African and African early instruments, which were described by music ethnologists or which Dubs had encountered in various museums. He replicated a number of these instruments, in some cases further developing them to create variations or new types of instruments. The Holzorchester by Thomas Dubs was used for the first time in the three performances of the Klang-Theater (Theater of Sound), the stage experiment of the Werklehrerklasse from 1976 at the Zurich Kunstgewerbeschule. In 1977 six concerts were held in Switzerland and Liechtenstein; and in 1978 the instruments were exhibited at the Exempla'78 in Munich.
Thomas Dubs
Das pädagogische Werk (Work in Education)
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2014
Linen,bound
308 Pages
89 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-8-2
Price: CHF 48.00 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 39.80 (excluding shipping costs)
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About this book
In fall 1972, the artist Thomas Dubs was asked to teach at the "Kunstgewerbeschule der Stadt Zürich" (Zurich School of Applied Arts) in the subject "Creating in Wood" to students of the "Werklehrer" course. Dubs began his teaching activities when the School of Applied Arts was facing a period of turmoil and a number of teachers were demanding an artist education. After several years of negotiations, they turned away from the school in disappointment, founding in 1971 the School of Experimental Design F + F (Form und Farbe), and the then-director of the School of Applied Arts was forced to resign. From 1973 to 1976, Thomas Dubs worked to gain recognition for the profession of "Werklehrer" as a timely promotion of creativity. Through exhibitions at the Schweizerisches Heimatwerk (Swiss Crafts Association) in Zurich, the Kunsthalle in Winterthur and the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Applied Arts) Zurich as well as the stage experiment Klang-Theater (Theater of Sound) in 1976 with performances in Wetzikon, Winterthur and Zurich, the profession of his students became known to a wider public. The present documentation affirms that the creative talents of every individual constitute an expressive potential to be nurtured and promoted at all times.
Thomas Dubs
Briefwechsel mit Gruber (Correspondence with Gruber)
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2014
Softcover
190 Pages
1 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9524382-0-6
Price: CHF 12.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 10.50 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
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About this book
The writer and musician who goes by the name of Gruber receives a letter one day from a person who writes that he's "tired of life". Invoking phenomenological comparisons, Gruber attempts to change the life-weary despairer's mind. The intelligent stranger named Traber manages to counter every argument. Gruber responds by bringing up literary quotes from Goethe's "Faust", Ezra Pound's "The Cantos" and Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy" along with insights from the philosophers Nikolaus von Kues and Karl Jaspers. Nevertheless, the chosen quotes and insights have no effect. Next Gruber resorts to the bag of tricks of non-intellectual understanding, but Traber remains unmoved. He stands by his belief that a person has the right to decide for himself when he no longer wishes to be part of "life as it is".
Thomas Dubs
Ein Engel aus Zimt (A Cinnamon Angel)
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2013
Softcover
56 Pages
1 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-9-9
OUT OF PRINT
About this theatrical work
In recognition of the fact that the "Cante Jondo" chants and Andalusian dance have little meaning when the sung words are not understood, Thomas Dubs conceived a Flamenco performance in which the "Martinetes", "Seguiriyas" and "Malageña" chants and the "Caña" and "Tarantos" dances are paired with recitations of Flamenco songs in German. A number of the more interesting, yet especially difficult songs are linked with ancient Egyptian chants to demonstrate their roots in past cultures. For the presentation of "Ein Engel aus Zimt" which also includes readings of three poems by Federico García Lorca from his "Poema del Cante Jondo", Thomas Dubs formed a stage with integrated stairs upon which the performances of the guitarist, singer, dancers, speaker and commentator and the theatrical actions of two "Ausrufende" (Callers) can find full expression.
Thomas Dubs
Der Spurensucher
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2013
Softcover
216 Pages
1 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-7-5
Price: CHF 12.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 10.50 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
Order at rüffer & rub, Publisher, Zurich
About this story
In the days before his book launch at the Goethe Bar in Zurich, the author penned a new story. The search for signs and traces led him to associative trains of thought, arising in part from his imagination but also based on actual events in which the line between reality and fiction becomes blurred. For the artist-writer, «bringing something to light» is a creative act stemming from the perilous depths of human thought. Looking at the opera «Mathis der Maler» by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) and the choral activities of his father Hermann Dubs (1895-1969) as well as the composers Ernst Křenek (1900-1991) and Heinrich Kaminski (1886-1946), Thomas Dubs illuminates the precarious situation of an artist in the face of an anti-cultural era. The story «Der Spurensucher« (The Seeker), in which Claudio Monteverdi's work «Vespro delle Beata Virgine», Paul Cézanne's painting «Le garçon au gilet rouge», James Joyce's «Ulysses» and a fantasy on Friederich Nietzsche's death take on special importance, ends with the author's reflections on the present-day danger of individuals becoming «wrong-way drivers on the highway of life.»
Thomas Dubs
Jedermann braucht etwas Wüste
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2012
Softcover
76 Pages
1 Picture black and white by Ursula Dubs-Reinhart
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-6-8
Price: CHF 9.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 7.90 (excluding shipping costs)
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About this story
Ursula Dubs-Reinhart (1910-2000), daughter of Georg Reinhart (1877-1955) and wife of the choirmaster and choral conductor Hermann Dubs (1895-1969), made two journeys to the Sahara in the 1950s. The present account by Thomas Dubs (1933), a summary of the two travel journals from 1951 and 1952, gives special consideration to the routes taken and the travel conditions at the time with a special focus on the journal entries related to the photographer Peter W.Haeberlin (1912-1953), who took part in both expeditions. In his accompanying commentary on the journal entries, Thomas Dubs seeks on one hand to highlight the strenuous conditions associated with travel to the Sahara in the 1950s. On the other, his personal selection of the excerpts document the journal writer's efforts to keep the travel party moving forward and show the conclusions she drew from her adventurous tours of the Sahara Desert.
Thomas Dubs
Schreiber's Tod
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2012
Softcover
180 Pages
1 Illustration black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-5-1
Price: CHF 12.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 10.50 (excluding shipping costs)
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About this story
Schreiber's creativity has run dry! Shortly before his death, he tries desperately to come up with a new story. Although he manages to defy the hot days of summer 2011, inspiration fails to strike. In frustration, he analyzes the works by Fjodor Dostojewskij, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Thornton Wilder, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Camus and Max Frisch, and he reads the writings of the Tübingen theologian Hans Küng in the hope of obtaining answers to the question of the meaning of writing. After Schreiber's death, the administrators of his estate find eight manuscripts on his desk, labeled «Manuscripts I-VIII», including the stories «Nameless,» «On the Tram,» «Brasserie Schiller,» «The Old Man,» «Bodega Española,» «Gran Café» and «The Litmus Test.» Manuscript VIII bears the title: «Schreiber's Death».
Thomas Dubs
Der gelbe Schein
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2012
Softcover
72 Pages
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-4-4
Price: CHF 9.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 7.90 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
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About this story
A yellow pick-up slip from the post office sends the artist Thomas Dubs into a rage. In this short story, he questions the nonsensicality of promotional giveaways sent out shortly before Christmas. The author evades the question of purpose and shirks from denouncing the nonsense. He refuses to take a position and the narration ends before reaching a conclusion. In stating that he alone has now acquired insight and can keep it for himself, he refers to the coming age without art and without artists and thus pushes the story to absurdity. Through the three images created in the story, Thomas Dubs circumvents a directly denunciatory description. The picture of the ungrateful recipient who goes to the post office with the yellow slip on a winter's day, standing in line and trudging back home through the driving snow with the delivered gift in hand, provides readers with a sarcastically grotesque yet compelling image.
Thomas Dubs
Giambattista Piranesi
(German language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2012
Softcover
96 Pages
2 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-3-7
Price: CHF 9.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 7.90 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
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About this story
The artist Thomas Dubs composed this short story during the first ten days of November 2010. Inspired by the title plate of the second edition of Giovanni Giambattista Piranesi's «PRIMA PARTE DI ARCHITETTURE, E PROSPETTIVE» that Thomas Dubs received from a friend in late October 2010, he discovered the changes carried out by Piranesi vis-à-vis the first edition. The original title plate for these etchings bore a dedication to the patron Nicola Giobbe. For the second edition, Piranesi erased the dedication and made a number of corrections. With his precise and trained eye, Thomas Dubs recognizes these modifications and, thanks to his knowledge of etching, develops a true-to-life story that plays in Rome during the period 1744-1764 and centers on Giovanni Giambattista Piranesi, the Venetian architect, set designer, conservator and brilliant engraver.
Thomas Dubs
The Green Line
(English language)
Publisher: Stiftung Thomas
Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2012
Softcover
68 Pages
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-2-0
Price: CHF 9.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 7.90 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
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About this story
The artist Thomas Dubs (Zurich/Provincetown) wrote this short story in September 2010: When he arrived in Provincetown, he noticed two thick black lines painted on Commercial Street. He couldn't figure out what they were doing there and thought that the lines looked like the heavy marks of a truck losing oil or, as a second idea, that a military tank coming back from the war in Iraq had driven through Provincetown. Later Dubs learned from friends that the two black lines had once been green. Originally the Town of Provincetown had had the idea of painting a green line from Center Street to Howland Street to draw walking tourists to the East End, home to several galleries, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum PAAM. Thomas Dubs - a native of Switzerland - wanted to write about this as an experiment in English. After some thought he came up with the idea of inventing a naive tourist, traveling through the USA with a dictionary and arriving in Provincetown by ferry from Boston to look for the Green Line.
Thomas Dubs
Kunst und Evolution
(German language)
Publisher: Foundation Thomas Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2011
Linen, bound.
184 Pages,
29 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-1-3
Price: CHF 44.00 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 34.20 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
Order at rüffer & rub, Publisher, Zürich
About This Book
In this short text – a text work – the artist Thomas Dubs examines the cultural development of mankind. He poses the question: what has made human beings engage in artistic activity for thousands of years, in spite of the destructive aspects of life, and what mysterious forces drive them to pursue constructive endeavors? In seeking an answer, he considers the examples of viruses and cell division and gathers insights into the regenerative and destructive dynamic of evolution. Dubs reflects on the genesis of life and contrasts his Schaumauge (foam eye) as a fanciful notion of our existential origins with Amos Oz’s conception of life and death, Rilke’s primal sound and Goethe’s archetypal plant. He describes the situation of cultural man in face of destructive and constructive aspects as a liminal experience between resignation and hope. His conclusion: as part of nature, individuals possess an evolutionary, creative force within, enjoining them to resist the elements of destruction.
Thomas Dubs
Die schöpferischen Schichten im Menschen
(German language)
Publisher: Foundation Thomas Dubs
© Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2009
Linen, bound.
352 Pages,
51 Illustrations black and white
ISBN Nr. 978-3-9523538-0-6
Price: CHF 48.00 (excluding shipping costs)
Price: EUR 39.80 (excluding shipping costs)
Can be purchased in every good bookstore
Order at rüffer & rub, Publisher, Zürich
About This Book
In this work Thomas Dubs addresses mankind’s creativity. He explores the questions: Is there a primary source for creativity? Are evolutionary creative processes of man evident? In order to answer these complex questions, Thomas Dubs combines various fields of study in a multidisciplinary approach: mythology, microbiology, geology, architecture, art and philosophy, together with his own experience and knowledge. As a result of his investigation, he discovers layers of evolutionary structures that we human beings – as part of nature – carry, physically and archetypically, within us. Thomas Dubs shows how craftsmen, architects, artists, musicians and philosophers employ these inherent structures, consciously or unconsciously, in their work. He renders visible the creative layers in mankind through the use of drawings, photographs and reproductions of three-dimensional objects made by the author for this book. The reader is encouraged to reflect on man’s creative predispositions and to question how mankind will deal – today – with these positive as well as negative forces.
©Foundation Thomas Dubs, 2020