articles: Nothing at all
Where are we with dOCUMENTA 13?
Domenico Olivero (translated by Savina Carluccio)
Only a month left until the opening of the thirteenth edition of dOCUMENTA, event that every five years brings together the art world in the heart of Germany. However to date little is known. Even if you had cruised everywhere attending events of all kinds and had read many pleasant booklets ranging from agriculture to art, you’d still have no definite idea about the event.
The curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, perhaps engaged in travelling all over the world, is yet to produce a clear text about what will happen. Only last Saturday some indications regarding the structure of event were released, but maybe the curator’s constant journey across cultures and countries is already a clear signal of a change in "making art".
Surely the suspense is important to emphasize the show, but if there were more information available, one would be able to fully enjoy it and not come unprepared to the exhibition. But the surprise effect of the media seems to have crept into the world of contemporary art, in true reality show fashion.
Taking into account the ideas that have been proposed in recent times, many very different types of exhibition come to mind. However, although on one side it is right to keep momentum in these times of constant change, we already know ‘no more bets’ and that the artworks have already been created. Hence prolonging unnecessarily the wait could empty the artworks of their meaning.
Personally, in this mumbo-jumbo of information produced to date about dOCUMENTA (13) I perceived an action on the "communication" itself, its gigantic stream that more and more is useless and leaves no trace, indeed cancels and empties each event. Be it tragic or joyful. So it is important to return to an intimacy, a "human" relationship with things.
But the news which arrived last Saturday is about the logistics of the event. We learn from the short text that the artists will be over 150 and that the event will follow a holistic view, which will range from artistic creativity to different scientific disciplines, such as biology, physics, or anthropology.
The event will take place in different locations, from traditional areas such as Fridericianum documenta-Halle, and the Neue Galerie, moving to spaces dedicated to the natural sciences and techniques, such as Ottoneum and the Orangerie. A portion will extend into small places such as the magnificent baroque park of Karlsaue or most "bourgeois" which Ständehaus and the Grand City Hotel Hessenland. There should also be non-European locations that will be revealed only on June 6.
We will confirm the events as they develop for the 100 days of the event and that could be: conventions, seminars, conferences, implemented projects, writers’ residency and a film festival. From June 11 to 15, a conference will take place where artists are taking part together with some of the most important institutions related to 'Art Academies Network. In order to get the best out of the event, some dTOURS will be organized to deepen the large body of works presented.
The wait gets more intense, watch this space!
Pictured the Museum Fredericianum. Photo credits: Nils Klinger copirights of dOCUMENTA(13)
The curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, perhaps engaged in travelling all over the world, is yet to produce a clear text about what will happen. Only last Saturday some indications regarding the structure of event were released, but maybe the curator’s constant journey across cultures and countries is already a clear signal of a change in "making art".
Surely the suspense is important to emphasize the show, but if there were more information available, one would be able to fully enjoy it and not come unprepared to the exhibition. But the surprise effect of the media seems to have crept into the world of contemporary art, in true reality show fashion.
Taking into account the ideas that have been proposed in recent times, many very different types of exhibition come to mind. However, although on one side it is right to keep momentum in these times of constant change, we already know ‘no more bets’ and that the artworks have already been created. Hence prolonging unnecessarily the wait could empty the artworks of their meaning.
Personally, in this mumbo-jumbo of information produced to date about dOCUMENTA (13) I perceived an action on the "communication" itself, its gigantic stream that more and more is useless and leaves no trace, indeed cancels and empties each event. Be it tragic or joyful. So it is important to return to an intimacy, a "human" relationship with things.
But the news which arrived last Saturday is about the logistics of the event. We learn from the short text that the artists will be over 150 and that the event will follow a holistic view, which will range from artistic creativity to different scientific disciplines, such as biology, physics, or anthropology.
The event will take place in different locations, from traditional areas such as Fridericianum documenta-Halle, and the Neue Galerie, moving to spaces dedicated to the natural sciences and techniques, such as Ottoneum and the Orangerie. A portion will extend into small places such as the magnificent baroque park of Karlsaue or most "bourgeois" which Ständehaus and the Grand City Hotel Hessenland. There should also be non-European locations that will be revealed only on June 6.
We will confirm the events as they develop for the 100 days of the event and that could be: conventions, seminars, conferences, implemented projects, writers’ residency and a film festival. From June 11 to 15, a conference will take place where artists are taking part together with some of the most important institutions related to 'Art Academies Network. In order to get the best out of the event, some dTOURS will be organized to deepen the large body of works presented.
The wait gets more intense, watch this space!
Pictured the Museum Fredericianum. Photo credits: Nils Klinger copirights of dOCUMENTA(13)
Domenico Olivero (translated by Savina Carluccio) - April 19, 2012
[This article originally appeared in Italian: Il nulla del tutto]
.gif)



