Re: <nettime> Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel

[Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com>]

On 15.09.22 08:56, Andreas Broeckmann wrote:

> Folks, for those interested in a look at the discussions around 
> documenta fifteen from outside the lumbung (dare I say, bubble), one
> way to start is this interview (in German) with the chairwoman of the
>  scientific committee which is the latest focus of attention:
>
> https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/documenta-debakel-wie-gehen-wir-mit-diskussionsverweigerung-um-dlf-kultur-ed86198f-100.html

It seems like this bridge has already been burned, from both sides.

The curators certainly made mistakes by not understanding the particular 
German context and the way the anti-semitism charge has been weaponized 
by the right (Netanyahu's toxic legacy). Still, I understand that they 
have little interest in having to submit everything to a German board 
for approval.

I'm in Kassel at the moment and I happened to see the films that kicked 
off this latest round of recriminations. I didn't think they needed 
"contextualization" because the context has been made really clear. They 
are historical documents from the international solidarity movement, 
particularly from a solidarity group in Tokyo. They do not represent an 
impartial historical analysis, but (mostly) voices of people in pain.

If you read German and want to get an impression of how the 
weaponization of anti-semitism works, just see how the HWK's very 
considered, very sophisticated conference "hijacking memory" (June 2022) 
was attacked. This is not about finding common ground, or better 
arguments. This is about silencing your opponent no matter how.

https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/hijacking-memory-wie-eine-konferenz-die-engpaesse-deutscher-debatten-aufzeigt-li.245534

While this has dominated the media sphere, on the ground, the exhibition 
is very impressive and truly a break from the template of the "global 
art show".

Problems that have kept the art system and theory busy for decades -- 
the relationship between art and life, or between engaged content and 
alienated form -- have turned out to be largely irrelevant. And a very 
different notion of art emerges, doing art, with a small 'a', as a 
necessity for collective survival, for inventing and constructing a 
different world, as a way of seeing a world after its breakdown, a way 
of relating to the history, present, and the future.

What also struck me is that many of the works, and the overall concept, 
are very sophisticated, but not in a theoretical way. As far as theory 
is concerned, I reached the lumbung overdose quite quickly, but then 
again, this concept is so vague, general, and ubiquitous that it manages 
to integrate very disparate practices into a common framework centered 
around open-ended processes and the values of collaboration.

So there is a strong common thread -- a hands-on way of thinking, a 
rough workshop aesthetic -- that runs through the entire show, and, for 
me, it works quite well. The wealth of detail and contexts, of histories 
that are not familiar to a western art audience (or, at least not to 
me), is totally overwhelming, but that is the world outside the 
globalized duty-free zones.

I couldn't relate to everything and the lack of engagement with 
technology and industry felt a bit retro, but the focus was clearly the 
artistic production of local solidarity movements and minority groups.

Still, a lot of works that are really moving. I cannot speak much to 
discussions, workshops, and other more engaging formats, as it seems the 
energy of the show has dissipated. 100 days are long.

Overall, documenta15 is a wholesale repudiation of the modernist notion 
of what art is and what exhibitions can, and should, do.

That this is fraught with internal contradictions (less than I expected, 
though) and creates a backlash is not surprising. That the backlash 
comes in form of the charge of antisemitism, is truly sad and tells a 
lot about contemporary Germany (good and bad things).



all the best. Felix












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