Exploring the notion of communication and understanding, in 1989 Kippenberger enlisted an aesthetically diverse range of materials to question conceptual art in Das Ende des Alphabets (Prototype for the Edition). Similarly to his sketches and drawings, the work with its artistic distinction from the final edition, affords the viewer an important insight into Kippenberger’s thought process and experimentation with materials. The shipping crate evident in the finished edition, and absent from the prototype, suggests that the artist’s more specific critique of the controversial nature of commercial art was still in formation. Cementing his influential position in the creation of Kippenberger’s works, Strothjahann worked personally on Das Ende des Alphabets, and was instrumental in the decision to exchange the materials on the Y and the Z for technical reasons. This change further distinguishes the important prototype from the subsequently editioned work and reinforces Kippenberger’s continuous experimentation with media, thought processes and communication.