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Probably
the most important event in the world of contemporary art practice more in the trajectory of the present-day visual culture, dOCUMENTA is the ultimate ‘Shangri la’ for every living artist. Established in 1955, dOCUMENTA is in its 13th avatar this year, which opened on June 6 and ran for 100 days, ended recently. But there is only one dOCUMENTA organised by German architect, painter, designer and curator Arnold Bode for the first time in 1955, in post-World War II Germany. Bode continued to be its artistic director till dOCMENTA 4. Held in every five years for 100 days in Bode’s hometown Kassel, it is Bode, who coined the term “Museum of 100 days” for dOCUMENTA. The dOCUMENTA also made a statement for Germany. It was part of rebuilding of Germany’s artistic oeuvre and creativity, which had taken a huge beating as a result of Nazi Germany. The unparalleled success of dOCUMENTA, beginning with the first one in 1955, was the crying need for it. dOCUMENTA (1) featured a broad overview of 20th century art using large spaces in an innovative way. The tradition has continued unabated and dOCUMENTA (13) was no exception, not only did it take place in four different countries with a special gaze at the Arab Spring. It also enlarged the scope and physical geography of the display spaces. Presented in eight main venues in Kassel, dOCUMENTA (13) had more than 300 participants from 55 nations. There were a number of projects located throughout the city. dOCUMENTA (13) was physically and conceptually sited in four locations — Kassel, Kabul, Alexandria/Kairo and Banff. The artistic director for this year’s dOCUMENTA is the curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, who has been the chief curator of the Rivoli Museo di Arte Contemporanea in Zurich and the head of the 2008 Sydney Biennale. Undoubtedly, the pressure on each artistic director of the dOCUMENTA is unbelievably heavy. It was the same for Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, starting with the shadow of the greats like Arnold Bode himself to Harold Szeemann, Catherine David, Okwui Enwezor. Carolyn had a huge reputation and creative innovation to match up to, and she did this with exquisite aplomb.
The neoclassical building, the Fridericianum, a 1779 building, one of the oldest public museums in Europe, has been the site of the opening spectacle of the dOCUMENTA, and naturally this year, like every other year, was transformed as evidence to the artistic director’s vision. For the first time in the history of the dOCUMENTA, the ground floor galleries had been left nearly empty. “I need some meaning, I can memorise The Invisible Pull, an installation piece by the British artist Ryan Gandu. The installation was nothing more than the overhead ventilation system, which blows a stiff cooling breeze through the galleries. Unusual, because of its bare minimalism, it was elegant, refined and edgy in its own way. Within this Fridericianum itself, there were a couple of displays which engrossed. The Indian section had its presence in dOCUMENTA (13). Four diverse artists Amar Kanwar, the collective camp, consisting of Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran, Tejal Shah and Nalini Malini from India, were very evident in their presence. All Indian artists did not come from the traditional school of painting or sculpture but belonged to the contemporary discipline of new-media, digital, film and video art, their practice largely driven by political and social sensitivity. Ever since Okwei Enwezor opened up the dOCUMENTA in its 11th edition by taking it away from a purely Eurocentric vision, since then, there has been no looking back. Amar Kanwar remains a constant in the last three dOCUMENTAs. His ambitious project, which is still a work in progress is titled Sovereign Forest, lyrical, poetic and deeply moving the quintessential qualities of Kanwar’s work. The forest project has been going on for a number of years. The installation of the forest project has a substantial space allotted to it. Since the 1950s, the place in Odisha has become a site of conflict between the government, local communities and ecology. The sovereign project rooted in the same tension reflects on the contemporary economic and bureaucratic tendencies. At the centre of the work, is a large 40-minute film. Kanwar initially found critical acclaim as a filmmaker — a season outside, three short films and 4 feet long books, which have moving images printed on them and grains in drawer forms the main body and material of the work. Shaina and Ashok Sukumaran worked on Boat Modes in 2009-2012, a 60-minute film and photo installation, dealing with marine communities, piracy, sea routes. The Boat Modes by, incorporating Bollywood songs, brought in vignettes of popular culture. Nalini Malani is always spectacular with her video/shadow play. In Search of Vanished Blood is a huge site responsive installation, which employs reverse, painted mylar sheets and rotating cylindrical. Nalini was also one of the three creators invited to produce an artist book. Malini’s work is an interplay between complex issues like curse of prophesy, fatal position of widow and failure of human communication. The most disappointing work from the highly energetic and culturally diverse Indian contingent was that of Tejal Shah. Her work Between the Waves is inspired by the study of Biological Exuberance by Hakim Bey. The project can be read as a shared relationship between animals, human and machine and divine. Informed by Buddhist philosophy, the work bears the inimitable voice of a spectacle, which is quintessentially Shah’s. Bani Abidi, the artist shuttling between Karachi and New Delhi, with her project 30 Degree Angle was a fictitious film revolving around the commissioning of a monumental statue by a small-time politician somewhere in contemporary South Asia. In this enormous spectacle of work, from dead to living artists, dOCUMENTA continues to applaud the creative genius of artistic practice. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, in her curatorial concern, says, “dOCUMENTA(13) is driven by a holistic and non-logocentric vision that is skeptical of the persisting belief in economic growth. This vision is shared with, and recognised, the shape and practices of knowing of all the animate and inanimate makers of the world, including people.” The statement centres on the conflict and chaos in a globalised world and in this scheme of art, India is very much present and evidently visible.
A shot at the Guru
The Alkazi Collection of Photography recently released this image entitled Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and The Mother at Darshan from the album Sri Aurobindo and His Ashram by French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson from April 1950 in Pondicherry. Long-hidden photographs from French master Henri Cartier-Bresson were exhibited for the first time, shedding light on a controversial project of his in India.
Glass decor
The iconic 13-foot statue of Christopher Columbus is viewed from the 810-square-foot “living room” art installation by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi in New York city. Viewed as a piece of conceptual art, “Living Room”, which sits 70-feet above the ground level and is only accessible via a scaffold-encased staircase, has been temporarily built around the Columbus Monument in Columbus circle. More than
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People stand behind a taxidermy sculpture by artist Deborah Sengl at the Vienna Fair for contemporary arts, in Vienna. Photo: Reuters
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There are fairs and biennales, which have mushroomed across the globe over the last decade. India, too, is scheduled to have the first-ever Kochi Muziris Biennale in December.
Broad brush
Visitors look at pieces by Carlo Scarpa at the new ‘Stanze del Vetro’ (Glass Rooms) museum on August 28, 2012 on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. More than 300 bowls, vases and glasses of myriad patterns, textures and colours were on display at an exhibition paying tribute to a golden age of 20th century glassmaking through architect Carlo
Scarpa.
Columbus in marble
Stuffed sculpture
