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Alfred 23 Harth (A23H) stands as a luminous node in the international avant-garde, woven through the fabric of numerous books and catalogues that document, contextualize, or feature his interdisciplinary practice, especially across Germany and East Asia.

Among foundational volumes, “KLANGBILDER 1” (JAS Publikationen, 1987, Juergen Abi Schmitt) emerges as a uniquely layered artifact, embedding A23H’s text “Pharaoh auf vier Beinen,” eight evocative photographs, four artwork reproductions, and two pages of Harth’s own composition manuscript, serving as a visual and literary insight into his practice at that threshold moment. Just two years later, “DIE ZERSPLITTERUNG. 23. Hexagramm: Konzertstationen eines Jahres.” (Wolke, Hofheim, 1989) became a triadic catalogue of Harth’s 1987/88 activity: interlacing literary excerpts that informed his work, special music projects/groups from that period, and his art—including images, drawings, and objects. With a prologue by Juergen Abi Schmitt-Rosenthal and an introduction by Dr. Hubertus Gassner (then-director, Hamburger Kunsthalle), this catalogue distinguishes itself with a 7" flexidisc vinyl insert, a rare physical document of experimental sound and visual art.

Photography and exhibition catalogues further sustain his presence in the historical record. Ralph Quinke’s “JAZZ AND MORE” (Nieswand-Verlag, 1992) includes a striking photo of A23H, while Dominique Repecaud’s MUSIQUE ACTION (1993) documents Harth in both image and text, underscoring his centrality to the European experimental scene. The comprehensive “DER FRANKFURT SOUND” (Societätsverlag, 2004, ed. Jürgen Schwab) devotes significant photographic and textual space to A23H’s musical networks and influence.

As a writer, Harth’s distinctive voice is preserved in “PARADOX IM LAND DES ERFÜLLTEN WUNSCHES” (testcard #19, Ventil Verlag, 2010), while his contributions to others’ literary projects appear in “NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY, Act and Fiction” by Petra Scheibe Teplitz (2011), which includes a text from A23H.

A23H’s involvement in groundbreaking exhibitions is well-documented. The catalogue for “Universal Studios” at Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) in 2014 foregrounds his role as a German-Korean interdisciplinary artist who shaped and was shaped by his time in Korea, presenting a cross-cultural dialogue rooted in deep immersion rather than mere visitation. A23H’s book MOONDADA (Moloko Print 23, 2016) similarly exemplifies a lifetime of boundary-breaking; it gathers half a century of poetry, prose, and visual art, with about 35 drawings spanning avant-garde experimentation. His exhibition participation at the Choi Manlin Museum (Seoul, 2019) and installation at Seongbuk Documenta 6—drawing inspiration from poet and independence activist Han Yong-un—are documented in related catalogues, further confirming his international impact.

For those charting the evolution of non-institutional art in Frankfurt, “DIE WÜSTEN-JAHRE 1975-1985. ERSATZKUNST” (ed. Isa Bickmann, 2021) offers a vivid chronicle of the era’s off-scene, featuring original texts and rich visuals, with A23H’s praxis woven throughout.

Interpersonal, literary, and curatorial ties are further crystallized in “PLOOG: WEST END” (eds. Wolfgang Rüger/David Ploog, 2025), dedicated to writer Jürgen Ploog—longtime friend and collaborator of Harth. The volume collects an article and photos by A23H and notes their shared radio plays and historic 1990 exhibition of William S. Burroughs’s “Painting on Paper” at Harth’s waschSalon gallery.

Through these volumes, catalogues, and anthologies, Harth’s multifaceted oeuvre is refracted—literature, imagery, sound compositions, and curatorial work making “A23H” not just a name but a multivalent contemporary archive, inscribed across decades and continents.

100_1322.JPG by Baltimore Node