Its been a while since our last post. Too much all at once and time is never enough.
But today some important news.
Giulia Savino
Weronika Marek
Andrea Coderch Valor
Congratulations to all of them !!!!!!!
and of course also to Ruudt Peters their teacher, and to Alchimia their school!!!!!!!!!!!
Last year was the first Alchimia encounter with Sieraad (Dutch word for jewellery) fair in Amsterdam, an appointment we believe has already become a must for all those interested in jewellery.
With great pleasure this year the school was invited to participate with an exhibition of the 2012 graduates.
The fair is located in the Westergasfabriek, a beautiful and charming industrial building of the turn of last century that transforms the usual aseptic environment of fairs in a much more staged and theatrical setting, indeed stimulating more creative approaches to booths and facilitating the viewers’ immersion (and attention to) in the visit.
85 jewelers were participating, mostly from Europe but not only, with very recent creations. And we can say we were indeed extremely happy to see such a numerous public.
Besides the graduates work in the school booth, three of Alchimia graduates were showing their professional independent work, and we are very proud of them: Catalina Brenes, Carissa Hsu and Camilla Teglio
catalina Brenes, neckpiece
Carissa Hsu
Camilla Teglio, brooch
Exhibiting at a fair is an important experience for students and young professionals. It is vital to see comparatively the work and approach of colleagues, analyze the work of galleries and so the related paths different institutions are taking, see clients and their different tastes and customs due to lifestyle and climate. It is also a unique opportunity to encounter a big number of other professionals and so possibly engage in discussions as well as try out the ‘going public’ within an ‘experts’ environment.
We found particularly interesting the work of Tzuri Gueta www.tzurigueta.com, designer and artist based in Paris and the colourful fimo and resin creations of Jilian Moore, who was just in time because of the hurricane Sandy.
Tzuri Gueta
Jilian Moore, neckpiece
A reflection on the preservation of worldwide cultural heritage, on the reassessment of symbol bearers, on the creation of new traditions and on the simultaneous revival of old ones in a new form, was the purpose of this year’s” New Traditional Jewellery” contest with the title “New Nomads”.
The Jury was composed of: Isabella van den Bos, verzamelaar sieraadkunst, voorzitter Foundation Art in Business Els van der Plas, directeur, Premsela, Dutch Platform for Design and Fashion, Herman Hermsen; sieraadkunstenaar en Professor f r Schmuck- und Produktdesign Fachhochschule D sseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Marjan Unger, art historian and publicist ; Theo Smeets, University of Applied Sciences Trier – Dept. Gemstone & Jewellery Design – Campus Idar- Oberstein; AZIZ, fashion designer/artistEveline Holsappel, Curator applied art and design, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem.Chequita Nahar; jewellery designer, Coordinator Department Jewellery & Product Design, Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht.
These were the chose winners, within 3 categories:
Heester Popma-van de Kolk (NL)
Title: Wearable home ( two-sided necklace) material: chips from sim cards, credit cards, telephone cards, yarn
The chips are woven together with yarn to form a flexible square mat. One side is decorated, the other is gold. The yarn remains visible as a reference to the contacts that are made using chips. “This necklace is only done justice when it is worn” says the jury. “In several, playful ways things are hidden and things are made visible, and at all times only one side of the necklace is visible.The decorated side refers to the issues of the day: time, communication, money. The golden side calls up associations of illustrious civilizations, like the Egypt of the pharaohs and the Mayas. At the same time the chips contain information not visible to the naked eye. This necklace is a bridge in time”.
Sang-Hee Park (ROK)
Title: To have a dream-To pursue a dream (brooch) Material: goldplated copper, acrylic
Category students: Maryvonne Wellen (NL), Juliane Keßler (D), Patricia Correia Domingues (P)
Juliane Kessler
Title: Traffic sign (brooch) Material: aluminium, steel
Juliane Keßler: ” Some animals roam the world, using the currents of the wind and the sea for transport. We, the new nomads, consume a lot of fossil energy for our fast progress. Overall, economic efficiency dominates. I oppose this by recycling old traffic signs made of aluminum. Traffic signs regulate movements of people. It takes a lot of energy to transform this aluminum into jewellery with guilloches.”
Maryvonne Wellen
Title: Portrait of a clan member (necklace) Material: Plaster, Z-corp 3D print, paint, onyx
Maryvonne Wellen:” After collecting and archiving pictures of ethnography, I categorized them into a Western, an Oceanic, an African, an Asian and an American group. I decided to bring those different traditions and cultures together in collages using one piece of jewelry of each group to create a mask-like composition. I chose to use a mask form not only because it’s an ancient form known all over the world, but also because it covers the face and makes it possible for the wearer to take on another identity. This piece represents the melting pot of cultures, dominating not only today’s big cities but the internet as well.”
Patricia Correia Domingues
Title: Reflections on landscape 3 (brooch) Material: reconstructed ivory, foam, steel, silver
Patricia Correia Domingues: ” We have always been related to space. The places we traversed were the places where human evolution developed. They are crossings, places of reflection, shaped by human hand. Mankind is walking, moving, displacing and generating movements. Being nomadic means not only moving or being displaced, but also finding a place to rest, like a rhythm. Periods of reflection alternate with times of accelerated development. I believe my jewellery is about this timeless rhythm, where the past belongs to the future and the future relates to the past. the old and new became the expression of my imagination. This is my luggage; these are the tools that enrich my perception. My material.”
Interesting works, for different reasons, and indeed completed by in depth (from more personal to more sociological) research.
We look definitely forward to next year!
X
Today we want to link to the exhibition that just opened at the Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina in Florence, which will last until the 27th of January 2013, titled (as you might already guess): Francis Bacon and the Existential Condition in Contemporary Art.
In reality the show deals with a wide range of themes that definitely interest our field, such as existential questions in relation to the self and to the body, to the concept of ‘otherness’ and of how to ‘froze’ memories and moments in order to keep them, to highlight them, to make them eternal. And most fundamental how to translate and to express these feelings, perceptions and thoughts into material forms, from painting, to video, to installation with various materials (such as the wonderfully romantic and decadent environments saturated with wires of Chiharu Shiota).
The show also includes the work of the above mentioned artists and of Nathalie Djurberg, Adrian Ghenie, Arcangelo Sassolino and Annegret Soltau.
Maybe see you there (and check out their great guided tours schedule), here are all of the information:http://www.strozzina.org/exhibitions/francis-bacon/.
ciao!
Following sort of a tradition by now, the new year begins through a workshop led by our amazing teacher Ruudt Peters. This year’s theme, as might be obvious through the images, was RED (last year it was DREAM), selected not for socialist reasons but as red is the color of the Chinese New Year and below is a short explanation of its reasons.
According to the legend, in ancient China, Nian (“Nyan”), a man-eating beasts from the mountains, could infiltrate houses silently to prey on humans. People later learned that Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away through explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the red. So “Guo Nian” actually means “Surviving the Nian”. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. So this year Alchimia celebrated a sort of Chinese New Year, Ruudt Peters in fact has just come back from a three months trip to China.
For 3 days, and divided in couples, the students have been drawing, painting and making collages through the red colour while also being dressed in red. They also had to find red objects and reflect on a space on their body to give substance to their red dreams.
The whole workshop ended through a ‘ceremony’ in the magnificent Piazza della Signoria, when a number of colourful balloons have been launched in the sky.
‘What are you promoting?’ was the audience’s continuous question.
Nothing really, art in it’s own right while having fun, was the continuous answer…
We are happy to point out to, and display some images of, the recently inaugurated show of our former student Anja Eichler at the Vander A Gallery in Brussels (on view until the 6th of October 2012).
The exhibition focuses on recent works realized while in Shangai, where the artist is currently based.
For Better Or Worse
EntWicklung
Extension
OnTheEdge_u
OnTheEdge
StableGrowth
ZwischenRaum
Furthermore Anja’s wearable jewels have been literary ‘enacted’ by Lise Vachon (Canadian choreographer and dancer established in Belgium), Laura Colmenares Guerra (Columbian/Spanish visual artist) and Todor Todoroff (Belgian Engineer – composer of electroacoustic music), intensifying the living materiality of the synthetic jewels.
Lise Vachon performing © Alexandra de Laminne
Lise Vachon performing © Alexandra de Laminne
Find more information on Anja here: http://www.anjaeichler.com.
And read more about the gallery and the show by clicking here.
To make effective and long lasting moulds for the reproduction of objects in plastic, resin, ceramic, concrete and wax is the goal of this course. Experiments and trials will lead to a profound knowledge about the characteristics and qualities of the different materials and the myriad of possible application for jewellery and sculpture.
In three days we will explore the various aspects of moulding and casting, from the preparation of the model, the choice of the right moulding material, the options for release to the casting itself and its numerous variations.
cotton sleeve cast in transparent plastic
original sleeve in silver
The course is taught by Doris Maninger, founder and director of Alchimia. She has an extensive experience in the subject due to her work as restorator, sculptor and jeweller.
For more information and/ or reservation contact the school office: www.alchimia.it, info@alchimia.it.
sleeve cast in transparent plastic and cold enamel
moulds and casts in diverse materials
polyurethane casting process
polyurethane cast by Doris Maninger
ceramic and resin cast by Weronika Marek
Well yes, we are back on our desks, but before concentrating on the new, we would like to take a moment to highlight Alchimia’s August guest programme.
In fact, we are very pleased to publish and share some reflections, and images of what was created, by the participants of the workshop held at Alchimia by the Spanish-now-Amsterdam-based Estela Saez, from the 6th to the 17th of August 2012.
If you want to know more about the workshop please click here.
And if you want to find out of Estela’s work click here to check out her website.
“Daily Life, Jewellery Connection”
[…]
Like the title suggest, the workshop was about how to direct a creative process in our daily life. For me, what I like the most was working about my daily life, out of my daily life. I always have got the feeling that when we move to a different place, we perceive things differently. We get new answers and some times we even see more than we are use to. A workshop is all about that, such a strong and intensive experience where you meet new people, new places of working, new techniques, habits and, of course, knowledge and ideas.
Estela Saez developed a very dynamic program. With great variety of exercises, we had the opportunity to work in-group and individually.
Two different kinds of reflections were productive to expand our horizons. Besides that, we had to analyze the works of everyone, having the opportunity of learning not only with ourselves but also through the creative process of our peers.
This involvement was crucial to create a working atmosphere of sharing and learning.
It was a pleasure for me to share this moment driven by Estela Saez and with all the colleagues of the workshop.
Patricia Dominguez
Ich habe das Workshop von Estela Saez mit hohen Erwartungen besucht und sie sind erfüllt worden. Estela hat die 2 Wochen sehr konzentriert und interessant gestaltet. Sie hat unsere Kreativität und unser Können maximal gefordert. Auch den Zusammenhalt der Gruppe durch tägliche Gespräche untereinander hat sie stark gefestigt und wir waren ein super Team! Dadurch wir immer länger bleiben durften ist wirklich viel weitergegangen. Jeden Abend ein Gläschen Wein und eine Präsentation haben die Stimmung sehr gelockert.
Ich hätte mir keine bessere Lehrerin und Umgebung vorstellen können und es war eine große Bereicherung für mich.
Estela danke und bis zum nächsten mal!!!!
Alja Neuner
[I visited the workshop of Estela Saez with high expectations and they were met. Estela has really focused on the 2 weeks and has kept them constantly very interesting. She has stimulated our creativity and skill to the maximum. Also the keeping the group together through daily conversations with each other has strengthened it greatly and we were a great team! The fact that we were always able to stay longer has meant a lot. Every evening, a glass of wine and a presentation have much relaxed the mood.I could not imagine a better teacher and environment and it was a great asset to me.
Estela thank you and see you next time!!
Alja Neuner]
Under the intense August heat Estela Saez offered a workshop called “Daily Life: jewelry connection”. During two weeks Alchimia became an intense explosive creative space. With exercises in which we were asked to transform daily objects as varied as toothbrushes, toilet paper, binders, towels and bottles, we opened our eyes to search for possibilities in our surroundings. The fast paced fun filled the first week gave way for the more deep and personal second week. Here under the guidance of Estela we explored the possibilities of our chosen material. The results showed the varied creative approaches and process of our dynamic group. As everyone head home at the end of the workshop a beautiful sense of accomplishment and “camadiere” was felt. Thank You Estela! And Thanks to all my lovely workshop mates!
Maru Lopez
It is important to realize that whatever we do or design has iconographic references, it comes from somewhere; any form is always metaphorical, never totally metaphysical; it is never a ‘destiny’ but always a fact with some kind of historical reference. To put an object on a base means to monumentalize it, to make everyone aware it exists.
Ettore Sottsass, A Critical Biography
This quote was actually read on the Stedelijk’s (Museum of Contemporary Art of Amsterdam, NL) Facebook page. The museum in fact is currently working on its imminent re-opening, the 23rd of September, after years of renovation. For the first time its design collection will have a permanent presentation, giving the visitors the chance to admire its pieces collected since 1934, with about 2000 works on display, divided through 13 rooms following chronological thus thematic lineages.
Stedelijk’s new facade, Photo: John Lewis Marshall
Click here to read about the design collection show preparation, and here to check their future programme on their brand new website.
Here we go with the second part of the short report (yes it took us a while but we didn’t forget…) of what has been achieved by Alchimia graduates and students in the last year.
Enjoy!
PART TWO
First we have to integrate the most important achievement in Summer 2011:
Marzee Graduation Prize to Nadege Roscoe-Rumjahn with her collection “Intimacy”
In her words: A human figure placed on the human body, questions the wearers’ as well as the onlookers’ self image. In dealing with the subject of intimacy, these trespassing- textile body objects at once caress, confront and offend. Starting from guttural expressions, blind drawings and watercolors; instinctive emotional responses emerge. The goal then becomes to translate these feelings into wearable objects. Through the act of obsessive drawing, this time with thread, I create the material. Based on the assumption that jewelry has the potential to violate the wearer’s private sphere I created these fragmented figures, which hover within one’s realm of comfort.
Eugenia Ingegno took part in the annual exhibition “Pensieri Preziosi”, Padova, Italy.
Selen Ozus and Burcu Büyükünal opened their own school “Maden” in Istanbul, Turkey.
To see more photos and get information visit their web site: madenistanbul.com
Carissa Hsu participated in “Brand New – New Brand”, Inhorgenta 2012, Munich, Germany.
Melissa Arias and Aline Battegay were selected for Talente 2012, HWM Munich, Germany.
Aline Battegay, aluminium, steel.
Melissa Arias, color pencils, resin, silver.
Sung-ho Cho and Margherita de Martino Norante were invited to Schmuck 2012, Munich, Germany.
Sung Ho Cho, wood, silver, steel.
Margherita de Martino Norante, textile, gold.
Alchimia was present at Melting Point Valencia with the exhibition “Hazardous Experiments”.
Hazardous Experiments
Several teachers and former students as Ruudt Peters, Lucia Massei, Peter Bauhuis, Daniela Boieri, Flora Vagi, Ara Kuo, just to name a few, were present at Collect 2012, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK.
Heather White from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design worked in Alchimia thanks to a Fullbright Grant. She taught workshops in Poliurethane casting and organized the exhibiton “Full-Middle-Endless” (Florence -Boston).
Dinah Lee, Weronika Marek and Izabella Petrut were selected for Marzee Graduation show.
Installation view
Work by Weronika Marek
Work by Dinah Lee
Installation view
Our graduates with Marzee
Last but absolutely not least, it is important to announce again, since the vacation period is dissolving and the new year is just about to start and we are all (!) looking forward to it, that Alchimia has been accredited by the European Accreditation Board of Higher Education Schools E.A.B.H.E.S.
From now on Alchimia will offer to its students a European Bachelor and Master degree of Fine Arts in Contemporary Jewellery. Click here for more information, or write directly to info@alchimia.it, to ask for more details.
As you can see (read?), as usual Alchimia’s new year brings some novelty, continuing on its reflexive and flexible premises in relation to contemporaneity and the students’ needs and specificities.
This blog will be back on full activity now so…stay tuned!
Well yes, we are currently some of those privileged ones, experiencing a particularly warm Florentine summer, full of sun, tomatoes and flowers’ colours. But, let’s say it all, sun can be particularly aggressive reaching degrees that would scare a fried chicken, and constrains us at home and hided in shadows, writing and wondering of what-to-do-to-see-to-experience out of this 50-degrees-heat-zone.
Alchimia’s terrace
Boboli garden’s flowers
So why not promoting less mainstream geographical areas where jewellery and visual arts at large can represent a different way to experience some vacation’s pleasures?
We decided to start our mental road trip in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. You know why right?
Of course for the Marzee Graduate Show, opening this Sunday the 5thof August, where each year the best graduates from schools around the globe (or almost) have the chance to exhibit their work. Not following a specific thematic, but privileging a variety of approaches, this event is a chance to see and to reflect on the latest outcomes of a super young generation of jewellers. And of course, we would like to signal the participation of 3 of our third year graduate students, Dinah Lee, Weronika Marek and Izabella Petrut, to whom we wish the best of luck also for the achievement of the Marzee Graduate Prize 2012!
Dinah Lee
Weronika Marek
Izabella Petrut
To keep on the area, and maybe give you some more reasons to move towards that part of the world where summer temperatures are definitely less seducing, we are eager to point out 2 important contemporary art events located on a rather near radar from Nijmegen: Manifesta 9 and dOCUMENTA (13) (click on them to get to their website).
Only 150 km south from Galerie Marzee, is the location of this Manifesta’s edition (click here for more information), namely the city of Genk, in the Flemish region of Limburg, in Belgium. Manifesta is the European Biennial of contemporary art and its origin dates back to 1996. Conceived in the post-Berlin-Wall-period, its own intentions are rooted in the socio-political situation of the ’90s. The condition of distance between east and west of Europe, but more generally between East and West of the world, demanded the establishment of platforms, material and immaterial “spaces” that could reduce disparities and promote communication, debate and collaboration between different cultures. Its main characteristic in fact is its nomadic “status”, every 2 years Manifesta happens in a different location and its objectives rely in creating new art topographies away from major centres and always on the border between different cultures and traditions, working in close collaboration with the local hosting communities, promoting artists and curators from around the world who can define new models of art making and thinking.
Following this lineage, this year’s edition, titled The Deep of the Modern, curated by Cuauhtémoc Medina with associate curators Katerina Gregos and Dawn Ades, creates “a complex dialogue between different layers of art and history in relation to the overall geographical-ecological mining machine that transformed the region [of Limburg] over the course of the 20th century”.
Exterior view of the former Waterschei mine, Genk, Limburg, Belgium. Location of “The Deep of the Modern,” Manifesta 9, 2012. Photo by Kristof Vrancken.
Exterior view of the former Waterschei mine, Genk, Limburg, Belgium. Location of “The Deep of the Modern,” Manifesta 9, 2012. Photo by Kristof Vrancken.
For the first time taking place in one single location, the breathtaking former coal mine in the city of Genk, the whole exhibition is articulated through 3 sections:
17 tons - dealing with the cultural production – with manufacturing ranging from potato sculptures to tapestry, music, archival material of all sorts, from private diaries to public documents – that has been developed and realized through time by the diverse populations landed in the place because of the coal mining.
Prayer Mats, 1950-1960s. Collection of prayer mats of first-generation Turkish immigrants, variable dimensions. Private collections, Belgium. Courtesy: Turkish Union, Beringen.
Rocco Granata, (detail). Installation with jukebox, vespa, accordion, archival photos, documents, LP-records, variable dimensions. Photo by Kristof Vrancken.
The Age of Coal – an art historical exhibition comprising artworks from 1800 to the early 21st century dealing with the history of art production aesthetically related to and influenced by the industrial era.
View of “The Deep of the Modern,” Manifesta 9, Genk, Belgium, 2012.
Poetics of Restructuring - with many newly produced works realized by 39 contemporary artists from all over the world, focusing on aesthetic responses to the worldwide economic restructuring of the productive system in the early 21st century.
Rossella Biscotti, “Title One: The Tasks of the Community”, 2012. Installation, lead from Ignalina nuclear power plant, variable dimensions. Supported by: Mondriaan Fund, Amsterdam, CAC Vilnius. Courtesy of Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam. Technical sponsors: Aurubis, Draka, Prysmian Group, Uzimet. Commissioned by Manifesta 9. © the artist. Photo by Kristof Vrancken.
Top floor of the Waterschei building. Photo taken from Latitudes, LTTDS.org
The Deep of the Modern is composed as a coherent journey that starts in the heart of the memories and voices of the people living and working in the area. A commovent example is for instance the space composed of a jukebox, a vespa, LP-records and various archival materials showing the success of Rocco Granata, singer of the famous hit Marina (click here to listen to the song), son of Italian immigrants who moved to the region to work in the mining production. Or also the sculptures by Manuel Durán, a spanish self-taught artist and miner that used any available material, from coal to potatoes, to create sculptures of anonymous miners’ heads, that become symbolic of universal misery as well as of miners’ unspoken working conditions.
Works by Manuel Durán, “Miners’ heads”, sculptures since the 1950s out of potato pulp, coal, salt and paint. Photo taken from Latitudes, LTTDS.org
The second section represents an attempt to contextualize in a wider art-historical perspective and through a comparative method the artistic production in one way or the other related to coal mining. Here we go from works that literary use coal as material of their creations such as Richard Long’s Bolivian Coal Line or Marcel Broodthaers’ Trois tas de charbon to works that document the working conditions, the struggles or rebellions realized to obtain more decent health situations or basic rights, such as Jeremy Deller’s re-enactment of The Battle of Orgreave or the images by Francis William Cobb.
Richard Long, “Bolivian Coal Line”, 1992 Coal, 2.28 x 26 m Collection: De Pont Museum, Tilburg
Marcel Broodthaers, “Trois tas de charbon”, 1966-67, photo taken from Latitudes, LTTDS.org
Francis William Cobb, Digital print of original photograph, 17.5 x 23.3 cm Colllection: National Coal Mining Museum for England, Wakefield.
The final part, concentrated on contemporary works, deals with a wider range of perspectives and approaches to the main overall theme, creating moments of hilarity, of in depth research, of aesthetic pleasure and seduction, of accurate semi-fictional narrations, of frightening thus fascinating views of the future, of complex reflections on capitalism’s failures. A particularly enchanting work is Coal Drawing Machine by Carlos Amorales, where what at first glance seems like a marvellous installation of black and white quasi-expressionist drawings on textile, reveals itself to be an ongoing process of drawings production, done by a machine that simply follows some basic instructions. The imperfections of the touch, characteristic of the human hand and passion, are fabricated, in a revealing thus frightening future vision, by a cybernetic device.
Worth mentioning, in this super short account, is also the sound work by Nemanja Cvijanović, Monument to the Memory of the Idea of the Internationale, whose sound is activated by the public and spread all over the location, through a sort of chain reaction, not allowing to escape the revolutionary anthem La Internationale (click here to listen to his work).
Carlos Amorales, “Coal Drawing Machine”, 2012. Installation with plotter printer, paper and charcoal, variable dimensions. Supported by Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris, Kurimanzutto Gallery, Mexico City. Acknowledgment: Atelier Calder, Sachém France. Commissioned by Manifesta 9. Photo by Kristof Vrancken.
Carlos Amorales, “Coal Drawing Machine”, 2012. Installation with plotter printer, paper and charcoal, variable dimensions. Supported by Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris, Kurimanzutto Gallery, Mexico City. Acknowledgment: Atelier Calder, Sachém France. Commissioned by Manifesta 9.
Manifesta 9 is constructed on a quite set and pre-figured curatorial thesis but that nevertheless does not need some long statement to be read to be fully experienced in the curators’ intention. It is articulated as a rather clear and at times emotional journey, starting in the living habitats caused by the industrial revolution passing through the fantasies and struggles that accompanied its development up until reactions to post-Fordism. All accompanied by attempts to formulate, or imagine, forms of resistance and possible visions of the future while re-interpreting the present. A quite a-typical Biennial in relation to its generosity to the local visitors, so not the usual new-great-super-young-discoveries-and-obscure-concepts situation mainly directed to all of the art professionals gathering for the opening, but an exhibition genuinely interested in engaging with the people living on the territory or passing by for art’s appreciation’s sake.
Furthermore don’t forget to have a look at the parts of original machinery left in some of the mine’s spaces, they are of exquisite beauty, and to have a Belgian beer at the inside bar!
330 km south east of Nijmegen and 350 km east from Genk, is Kassel, the city hosting Documenta since 1955. To give a brief introduction to those of you that might not know yet what it is: Documenta is one of today’s most important art exhibitions in the world, that happens every 5 years, and was started by Arnold Bode within a moment of general will to re-define Germany’s present and identity through art and culture, trying to eradicate Nazism’s germs and to excavate and reflect upon its obscure reality. Started as a not yet so ambitious exhibition and not directly related to contemporary art, its first edition showed to the public the works of those artists which had been known as “entartete Kunst” (degenerate art – click here to read more about it ) in Germany during the Nazi era, such as the key figures of historical avant-gardes movements of the beginning of the XX century. Since the fifth edition (1972), curated by Harald Szeemann the holy father of the contemporary figure of the curator, a new artistic director has been named for each Documenta exhibition by a committee of experts.
The thirteenth edition of Documenta, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, involves more than 300 participants. The exhibition in Kassel is presented at eight main venues, with many other projects located at sites throughout the centre of the city and an incredible number of diverse events, such as conferences, readings, screenings, performances, etc. involving artists, writers, scientists, economists, activists, etc. happening throughout its 100 days of life.
It’s worth to directly quote some words of its director, that in this fragment seems to be perfectly expressing the soul of this show: “dOCUMENTA (13) is dedicated to artistic research and forms of imagination that explore commitment, matter, things, embodiment, and active living in connection with, yet not subordinated to, theory. These are terrains where politics are inseparable from a sensual, energetic, and worldly alliance between current research in various scientific and artistic fields and other knowledges, both ancient and contemporary. 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 recognizes, the shapes and practices of knowing of all the animate and inanimate makers of the world, including people”.
Incredibly vaster then Manifesta and completely different in its more intuitive and incoherent approach, dOCUMENTA (13) is composed as a myriad of open-ended questions, as a sensitive cloud of diverse issues and narratives that oscillate towards an extraordinary number of directions.
Facade of Kunsthalle Fridericianum in Kassel © 2012 dOCUMENTA (13) / photo Nils Klinger
Karlsaue Park in Kassel, Germany, one of the exhibition hubs of Documenta 13, 2012
Anri Sala, “Clocked Perspective”, 2012, at the far end of the Hirschgraben, one of the two canals in the Karlsaue park, photo taken from Latitudes LTTDS.org
We’ll be honest. It’s even hard to write about it right now, as we need some longer time to reflect upon it and let our thoughts grow towards the fantasies some of the works inspired, before letting judgements put an end to this mental journey.
But we definitely would like to point out to this blog, realized by the curatorial office LTTDS.org, which focuses (and constantly updates) on the different interpretations critics from around the world are giving of the show (and from whom we have stolen some of these images…).
Thus our pick for now is Jerome Bel’s work, a performance realized by a group of actors with learning disabilities, where the French choreographer as usual focuses on the core elements of theatre minimazing them at their most. The key element at stake is the challenging of the audience’s position and responsibilities, realized in such a subtle way that the work is able to generate embarrassment and hate, pleasure and laughs, compassion and sadness, altogether and in their strongest form.
Jérôme Bel, “Disabled Theatre”, 2012 Performance detail at Kaskade Cinema Kassel.
Also, absolutely don’t miss Tino Sehgal’s oeuvre (by the way you can now experience one of his most ambitious works also in Tate’s Turbine Hall, click here to see), an incredibly charming experience of darkness and light, of dancers producing choirs of unstable voices and ever-changing choreographies, where you’ll have to let yourself go and trust these unknown presences, while admiring their synchronized movements. Their making you feel present and absent simultaneously and their energetic invasion of the whole space is an indescribably good vibration.
Or also go check where Maria Loboda’s cypress trees’ formation is positioned. In fact this mobile installation moves during the exhibition period, following a military strategy, towards the Orangerie, and is part of her ongoing investigation into beauty and threat.
So much more to tell…but we became extremely long, so to avoid you staring at your laptop for the whole day, we stop our car here, under these trees, in the shadows of the park.
Hoping to maybe have thrilled your curiosity we wish now a great Summer time to all!
And don’t forget to click here for our final hots!
