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documenta 12 Revealed in Kassel
Documenta is one of the most important exhibitions of contemporary art worldwide. The first documenta exhibition was initiated by artist and art educator Arnold Bode in 1955 to reconnect German public life with modern art after years of artistic suppression. It now takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Over 650,000 visitors attended in 2002, and with the skulptur projekte münster 07 exhibition running concurrently, they expect even larger crowds for documenta 12 this summer beginning June 16.
Every five years a new director steers the exhibition in a new direction. Roger M. Buergel, this year’s artistic director, along with art historian Ruth Noack, have given documenta 12 three leitmotifs in the form of questions: Is modernity our antiquity? What is bare life? What is to be done? To address these questions, the curators have assembled the works of artists from all parts of the globe and in every conceivable medium, ranging from conceptual art to the inclusion this year of the culinary arts, represented by the renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adrià. Unlike the publicity usually seen prior to an exhibition’s opening, the documenta organizers keep everyone guessing about which artists will be taking part up until the very last minute. Some of the artists' work, however, is hard to keep secret. Brazilian artist Ricardo Basbaum carried out one such project. He actively sought volunteers to take part in his “Would you like to participate in an artistic experience?” project. Twenty angular, blue-and-white steel objects, each weighing about 40 pounds, were created by workshop apprentices in Kassel specifically for the project. Basbaum then sent these objects to volunteers in various cities on three different continents. The documentation of this participation and interaction—how these objects were appropriated or, perhaps, simply neglected by the volunteers—will be presented at documenta 12.
Another large-scale project that couldn’t be kept hidden is Sakarin Krue-On’s site-specific work with terraced rice fields on the hill of the Wilhelmshöhe Castle park. The terraced fields were constructed by traditional Thai methods, and the rice plants, which were planted by the artist and a team of Thai rice experts, will be the first ever cultivated openly in the German climate. In addition to presenting a strong contrast between the culturally distinct working methods, this project creates the basis for an exchange between Western European and East Asian cultures and the agricultural versus recreational use of land.
In the style of the great World’s Fairs of previous generations, this year’s exhibition also includes a large temporary exhibition hall, the Aue-Pavillion. Described as a feat of engineering, it has aptly been dubbed “Crystal Palace” after the glass structure built by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. Built specifically for this purpose, it will be located in the Karlsaue meadow, not far from the Orangery. Read more about the exhibition and the participating artists on the documenta website. The exhibition closes on September 29, 2007.June 15, 2007 Links
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