To celebrate the fortieth issue of Parkett, the editors present a special thematic issue. When beauty reemerges from Postmodernism, what does it look like? And how, when contemporary life demands so many different things from contemporary art, do we strike a balance between history and presence, politics and humor? Taking the children's game of Snakes and Ladders as a guiding metaphor, this gala issue offers six mini-collaborations: Holland Cotter on Francesco Clemente; Boris Groys on Peter Fischli and David Weiss; David Rimanelli and Max Weechsler on Gunther F rg; Gordon Burn on Damien Hirst; Joan Simon on Jenny Holzer; and Gilbert Lascault on Rebecca Horn. Also in this issue: Dave Hickey on magic, Vik Muniz on apparitions, Jeff Perrone on boards and borders, Roger Denson on nomadic critical theory, and much more.