Thomas Ruff's Untitled (Sterne 17h 38m/-30°, 1990) belongs to his seminal Sterne series, in which the artist appropriates astronomical negatives from scientific archives to radically redefine photography as a conceptual and informational medium. Created at the intersection of art and astrophysics, this limited edition print rejects authorship through the camera, instead foregrounding data, distance, and the sublime abstraction of the cosmos.

This rare artist's book edition, combining a c-print and signed bookplate, reflects Ruff's sustained engagement with pre-digital image systems and historical knowledge production, a core concern throughout his oeuvre. Situated alongside his Porträts, Nudes, and JPEGs, the Sterne photographic prints mark a pivotal shift toward image theory, positioning photography as a tool for questioning perception, objectivity, and visual truth in contemporary art.