The notion of the separation between spirit and matter, inferiority and exteriority that runs through all of Western philosophy is the starting point for the work of the American artist Ann Hamilton.

Trained as a sculptor, Ann Hamilton has always strived to reconcile body and soul, thought and matter, the living and the inanimate, by creating works that have a great "physicality" made with everyday objects, organic animal, vegetable and human materials which create a sort of microcosm of the vast outer world capable of arousing in the viewer emotions, recollections and sensations.

With the introduction by Thierry Raspail and the essays by Jean-Pierre Criqui, Patricia C. Phillips and Thierry Prat, the book spans thirteen years of the American artist's career, from her first exhibition in New York in 1984 up to her most recent works, featuring a selection of the most representative productions, from her early video-films and photographs to her latest, inspiring creations.