After another night of food, drink and art chat we awoke for the final day of our art tour The Neue Galerie.. This part of Documenta had a much more classic museum like display featuring darkened rooms with boldly spot lit work. The particular highlight for all members of the group was the discovery of a series of drawings by the Indian artist Nasreen Mohamedi,

the drawings primarily on square paper consist of simple lines in graphite or ink denoting architectural forms worked from Black and White photograph.

Courtesy: B. Fallon

Having arrived in Kassel we spent an evening in the cosy environs of an outdoor courtyard housed within an artists community for young locals acting as a satellite to the four main galleries of Documenta 12.

After early nights all round we awoke refreshed and ready for another day of art and searing heat. We started the day in the Documenta Halle for a work by the artist Cosima Von Bonin comprising of a selection of her own work and that of others, the overall impression was that of disappointment, there was some good work but the display and concept left a lot to be desired.

After a short ice cream break we wandered to the Museum von Fredericanium one of the larger galleries containing a huge amount of works of varying standards. Again the display was questionable throwing in works from the 17th century with works produced specifically for the show, giving the impression that the curator was playing games by drawing links through this diverse body of material. However there where a few standout works such as a video work by Hito Steyerl ‘Lovely Andrea’ which depicts the artists search for a 20 year old image of herself in a Japanese rope bondage magazine and discussing the idea of bondage to the job market.

After this it was down to the Aue Pavilion, a specially constructed gallery showing the main body of the exhibition. At this point I may be sounding like a stuck record but variable work and odd display. There was a significant amount of painting in the pavilion and the consensus was that it was not of a particularly high standard. The one standout work was ‘Would you like to participate in an artistic experience’ by Ricardo Basbaum in this ongoing work the artist gives locals an art object and a set of instructions to take the object into there lives and document there actions. These pieces of documentation are then presented in the gallery within a sculptural environment featuring the ubiquitous cushions and mattresses of the relational artwork.
Courtesy: B. Fallon

As any parents among you will know, very small children do not like to follow the rules of vacation and needless to say some of us were up very early this morning. This allowed for leisurely breakfasts before the serious business of Art took hold. It must be noted that there is no shortage of information or free maps available to help the avid viewer negotiate their way around what is a fairly compact city centre, which contains the significant majority of the art works. So off to work with the odd pit stop for coffee, book buying and play parks. As you will see Ben was clearly hogging the best games in the play park. There is a lot of work to see and the specially designed map allows the viewer to locate not only works commissioned for the 2007 event but also several works still in existence from previous projects.

for information about each project and a the artist biography click on the artists name

Manfred Pernice:

Thomas Schütte:

Andreas Siekmann:

Iza Ganzken:

Martha Rosler:

As the title suggests all manner of transport was engaged during our epic 11hr journey  via Amsterdam the most interesting of which was the unexpected Auto Bus journey  due to rail maintenance. Although caught unawares and slightly panicked all coped admirable particularly the pigeon Deutsche speakers who prevented us taking a 200 mile detour.  Top marks go to the youngest member of the group who despite it all remained in good cheer throughout. Finally we made it to our respective accommodation in central Munster, home for the next 5 days.

This would seem like an appropriate moment to introduce the members of the travel party.

From Let right: Lesley, Jenny, Nicola, Ben, Francesca, David, Colette & Rose.

The next week or so we hope to make as many posts as possible including photos of the works we encounter and keeping you up to date with goings on.

 

ED.

Dear All,

it gives us enormous pleasure to be back with you all after a short but well-earned break.

After a quiet week in the windy wilds of Brighton town playing the penny arcades, dodging the maniacal drivers, falling out with the waiter in a rather well known Fish & Chip Shop and failing to find any note worthy artwork (Actually we did come across a rather famous work by Banksy. Art ?) we now find ourselves in Germany on a pilgrimage to view as much contemporary art as we can in 9 days.

Over the next few days we will be touring Munster Sculpture Projects before moving on to Documenta 12 in Kassel. For those of you who may not be aware of the significance of these events, they are of international importance and the following is intended as a short introduction:

Munster Sculpture Project was initiated in 1977 by Kasper Konig and happens every 10 years taking over the whole of the city of Munster. The first event featured work by many of the most significant artists of the time; Carl Andre, Michael Asher, Joseph Beuys, Donald Judd, Richard Long, Bruce Nauman, Claes Oldenburg, Ulrich Rückriem and Richard Serra. Since the first event it has grown to become the largest and most significant survey of contemporary publicly sited sculptural works in the world. This years highlights includes works by: Bruce Naumann (with an inverted pyramid dug into the ground initially proposed for the original in 1977 but impossible then due to budgetary constraints), Mike Kelley (with a petting zoo including a salt lick in the shape of Lot’s wife) and Gustav Metzger (a work which plays on chance and the dual histories of Munster and Coventry’s destruction during the second world war.)

Documenta 12 as the title suggests is the 12^th edition, the first happening in 1955 and then every 5 years give or take. This year the exhibition is curated by Roger M. Buergel and Ruth Noack. Documenta is considered by some to be the most important exhibition of contemporary art and certainly one of the most heavily theoretical. This year the curatorial team have developed three central questions which run through the selected works, these are:

• ‘Modernity: Is it our antiquity?’
• ‘Life: What is Bare Life?’
• ‘Education: What can be done?’

These themes are explored in a number of ways, through the exhibition itself, a programme of lectures, tours, discussions and 3 magazines each dedicated to one of the questions; containing writing selected by around 100 international publications. For further info on both events click on the following links:

http://www.skulptur-projekte.de

http://www.documenta12.de

Over the coming days we hope to bring you some of the highlights and perhaps even the lowlights of our time in Germany so stay tuned for regular updates, perhaps Fact of the Day will rear its head once or twice.Best Wishes

ED