In 1975, Michel Foucault was invited to the University of California, Berkeley. During his visit, Simeon Wade—who assisted and accompanied Foucault—persuaded him to join him and his partner, Michael Stoneman, on a trip to Death Valley and Zabriskie Point, where Foucault took LSD for the first time.

Wade wrote about this experience in an unpublished manuscript, “Foucault in California.” When German conceptual artist Olaf Nicolai asked to use excerpts from the text for an artist's publication, he was permitted a maximum of 250 words.

Nicolai selected 205 words from throughout the manuscript. Although the broader content can only be guessed at, the published abbreviated text is itself a trip.

Designed by Roger Willems, Dongyoung Lee

Published by Roma Publications and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 2018

Softcover, 124 pages, color and b&w illustrations, 7 × 8.75 inches

ISBN: 978-9-49-281127-1