Modern art used to be primarily equated with acceleration, from William Turner to Futurism, from the abstract and the kinetic to media-generated art. On the other hand, little attention has been paid to the fact that the fascination with speed has always been combined with a search for the aesthetics of deceleration, something that would explore the dynamics of rest and the depths of existences, starting with the images of yearning produced by the Romantics to the profound “slow painting” by artists such as Mark Rothko or Franz Gertsch. This is the first volume to examine this modern dialectic, condensing a theme that hits a social nerve. Well-known authors, such as sociologist Hartmut Rosa and cultural scientist Hartmut Böhme, discuss the problems of technology- and economy-based acceleration and the increasing need to slow down. (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3242-0) Exhibition schedule: Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, November 12, 2011–April 9, 2012