While Europe and the world are entangled in their own contradictions in celebrating economic growth and technical progress as the salvation horizon of humanity, Filip Markiewicz proposes to dive into a universe of signs and images that reflect the emptiness of our current discourses. He imagines his exhibitions as stages on which individuals are invited to watch the decline of their own civilisation. The myth of the automobile ends in desolate cemeteries of rusted engines and useless tires; giant bank notes stand for the deceptive show of perverted politics and media (self-)representation. As the artist stated in his theatre performance Fake Fiction (Theater Basel, 2017): "Today, we have all somehow turned into Bela Lugosi. The dance of the vampires of the European image can begin. It's time to put on the masks and drink the digital blood until our hard drive is formatted for eternity."

The fourth volume presents the main characteristics of the Bauhaus concept of the stage. It was essentially shaped by Oskar Schlemmer, who had taken over the stage department in 1923. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy took an interest in abstract kinetic and luminary phenomena which he examines in his essay "Theatre, Circus, Variete." Farkas Molnar focused for his part on stage architecture, which he discusses in detail in this volume.

Few creative movements have been more influential than the Bauhaus, under the leadership of Walter Gropius. The art of the theater commanded special attention. The text in this volume is a loose collection of essays by Oskar Schlemmer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Farkas Molnar (who in an illustrated essay shares his vision of a total theatre space), with an introduction by Bauhaus leader Walter Gropius. Originally published in German in 1924, Die Buhne im Bauhaus was translated by A. S. Wensinger and published by Wesleyan in 1961. It was prepared with the full cooperation of Walter Gropius and his introduction was written specially for this edition. From Bauhaus experiments there emerged a new aesthetic of stage design and presentation, a new concept of"total theater." Its principles and practices, revolutionary in their time and far in advance of all but the most experimental stagecraft today, were largely the work of Oskar Schlemmer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and their students. Profusely illustrated and startling in its typography (the work of Moholy-Nagy), the 1924 volume quickly became a collector's item and is now virtually unobtainable. Those interested in the stage, the modern visual arts, or in the bold steps of the men of genius who broadened the horizons of aesthetic experience will appreciate that this translation is available again.