The Conquest of Space

Measuring just 2.5 x 4 cm with a simple black slipcase, The Conquest of Space. Atlas for the Use of Artists and the Military is an artist's book by Marcel Broodthaers originally published in 1975 in an edition of fifty numbered copies. As Broodthaers's last book, created shortly before his death in 1976, it embodies the artist's sardonic sense of humor with its plays on language and function - the title references the historic use of atlases by militaries for territorial conquests, but printed at such a miniature scale, it is unusable for its intended function. Furthering the level of intrigue with the book, Broodthaers did not follow established geographical organization, choosing rather to present only a small selection of countries organized in alphabetical order and graphically represented in identical size. This facsimile edition, published by The Museum of Modern Art, makes the artist's book available again for the first time since the original printing in 1975 in a limited edition of 500 copies.