Dieter Roth
A relentlessly experimental Swiss polymath who challenged art's permanence by creating sculptures from cheese, chocolate, and other decaying matter.
1930–1998 (age 68)·Swiss artist·Birthday: April 21·The Silent Generation
Biography
Dieter Roth was an anarchic force in post-war art, driven by a profound skepticism of order and preservation. Born in Germany and based for much of his life in Iceland and Switzerland, he worked across books, prints, sculpture, and music with a restless, DIY energy. He is most famous for his 'biodegradable' works, where he encased materials like sausage, fruit, and chocolate in plaster or plastic, then allowed them to rot, mold, and transform over time. These pieces were a direct, visceral attack on the art market's desire for stable, precious objects. Roth embraced chaos, accumulation, and self-documentation, filling his studios with vast, sprawling installations that were part archive, part waste heap. His influence is vast, paving the way for artists interested in process, ephemerality, and the breakdown of boundaries between art and life.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Dieter was born in 1930, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Dieter Was Born
The biggest hits of 1930
#1 Movie
All Quiet on the Western Front
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front
Dieter's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1930Born
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1935Started school
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1943Became a teenager
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1946Could drive
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1948Could vote
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1951Turned 21
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1960Turned 30
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1970Turned 40
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1980Turned 50
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1990Turned 60
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
1998Died at 68
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
Key Achievements
- Pioneered the use of organic, perishable materials like food in sculpture, creating works that deliberately decayed and changed.
- Produced a massive and influential body of artist's books, often using experimental printing and binding techniques.
- Created large-scale installation works, such as 'Flat Waste,' which archived and displayed the mundane debris of his daily life.
- His collaborative work with other artists, like his prints with Richard Hamilton, challenged notions of solitary authorship.
Did You Know?
He also worked as a poet, composer, and graphic designer, and founded a publishing house called 'forlag ed.'
He had a long artistic partnership and friendship with the Icelandic artist Sigurður Guðmundsson.
He sometimes exhibited under the slightly altered names Dieter Rot or Diter Rot.
A major retrospective of his work filled multiple venues in New York simultaneously in 2004.
“I try to make everything as unnecessary as possible. Then I can begin to work.”
