Documenta XI: no laughing matter
It was as if nature decided to complete the experience the curators of
Documenta XI seemed to be creating for us. It rained and rained in
Kassel and the rest of Germany when we were there. Streets were flooded
and the temperature was way below what it should be in summer. One of
the world's most leading art events can be described with one word:
depressing. The most positive thing one can say about this Documenta
probably is its openness to artists that are not white, male and
'western'.
Documenta XI is depressing for three reasons (I am not even counting the
curators' ignorance of current new media art). Firstly: the amount of
documentary works and sad contemplations on the world's current cultural
and political situation was truly over the top. There was an overkill of
(somehow disguised) preaching which made one either grow irritated or
totally uninterested after a while. Secondly, this is the Documenta of
mostly useful art, almost everything has meaning and purpose. Enwezor's
need to preach and teach then leads to the third, most poignant reason
for depression: Documenta XI is above all dead and dead serious. There
is very little humor or anything else ridiculous, useless or grotesque.
That is, if one does not count the rather kitschy dramatic effect of the
curatorial edit of this show. Individual artists and art works seemed to
be drowning in it, something they did not deserve.
Main impression
Of course it is a relief to see a major art show which somehow reflects
the way the world is opening up. It sounds cliche, but communication
technologies and mass media culture -have- brought us closer together.
Cultures have slowly started to mix and good taste is no longer defined
by one or two elites but by many. We see each others faults better too.
One of the things this Documenta seems to want to be is what its name
implies: a -document- of these changes, a confirmation even maybe. But
it does so in a highly predictable, lecturing way. As I said, this is
the Documenta of documentaries, of useful 'art' (illustrated best
probably by the words of two art tourists, who accidentally talked about
the "Documentary festival"). A video about a prison in Uganda (Zarina
Bhimji), found footage with images of aboriginals re-edited (Destiny
Beacon), a documentary about eskimo's (Igloolik Isuma Productions), so
called 'new forms of cinema' (see earlier Documenta review by Lev
Manovich) showing the situation around illegal immigrants in the USA
(Chantal Akerman), a documentary installation about the tragic death of
illegal immigrants (Multiplicity), documentaries on black communities
(Black Audio Collective) and a number of works in which artists
contemplate on themselves or their background (Pascale Marthine Tayou,
Mona Hatoum, Eija Liisa Antilla, Fiona Tan) are mixed with grim looking
pieces like an 'archive' covered in black pigment (Chohreh Feyzdjou),
dolls in colonial cloths in all kinds of sexual positions (Yinka
Shonibare), a room covered in soot (Artur Barrio), black or brown
paintings (Leon Golub, Glenn Ligon), black and white films of empty or
gloomy spaces (Stan Douglas, Jef Geys) and a labyrinth with 12 signs of
depression (Ken Lum). The relatively large number of photo collections
made the impression of Documenta as literal document of our times even
stronger.
Documenta XI (DXI) is not just dominated by documentary works and
melancholy or sadness. What is rather puzzling at this Documenta is the
odd presence of certain 'old favorites' in the exhibition. One wanders
from room to room filled with what I described above and then suddenly,
slightly lost, there is a space filled with works by Louise Bourgois,
Hanne Darboven, Dieter Roth, Constant or On Kawara. Even if these
artists have made very interesting work (the unique Constant exhibition
within another exhibition was a nice surprise) seeing them here made one
wonder why specifically these artists were chosen. Also interesting
works by 'newer' artists or artist groups (Shirin Neshat, Steve McQueen,
Atlas Group, Ryuji Miyamoto, James Coleman, Mark Manders, Tsunamii.net,
Nari Ward, Simparch, maybe even John Bock, whose work was presented
outside in a park) got branded by their presence within this context.
The political brainwash of the rest of the exhibition is so strong that
it overpowers all works and leaves one with very little room for
interpretation. The question then haunts you: what makes the work of
these artists fit between the other works? One tries to think like the
curators have seemed to think, so here we go: is it because they are
somehow documentaries or analyses (tsunamii.net, James Coleman, On
Kawara, Hanne Darboven), because the work is made of leftovers (thus a
sign of our decadence) and trash (Nari Ward, John Bock), because the
work offers new perspectives or contemplations on the spaces we live in
(Simparch, Constant, Mark Manders, Ryuji Miyamoto) or simply because the
artists who made them are not 'white' and make (again) contemplative,
melancholic pieces (Steve McQueen, Shirin Neshat)? Even if the works of
the latter two fit in this Documenta perfectly I don't think they really
benefit from it.
New media
DXI does not just suffer from its ideological molding. I can very well
imagine that somebody who actually likes the position of the curators
still would find some things lacking in the exhibition. Concerning new
media DXI's main curator is as well informed as any randomly chosen
museum director, which means he isn't. Maybe a special sub-curator for
this section would have done the trick. The DXI curators are simply
behind when it comes to knowledge about art in media and the exhibition
would have gained a lot in credibility if they had, since many issues
tackled at DXI are represented so well and abundantly in new media art.
If one tries to think from the ideological position of the curators
again there are plenty of works that actually -should have been there-
but weren't. Walking through the exhibition spaces there were numeral
instances that I thought: "Wouldn't RTMark have said this much clearer?"
"Wouldn't the Electronic Disturbance Theatre, Heath Bunting or Critical
Art Ensemble represent this more appropriately?" "Wouldn't the Old Boys
Network be able to cheer this place up in the most suitable politically
correct way?".
Tsunamii.net had been a pleasant surprise (even if the documentation
could have shown a bit more in this case! After the performance had
finished there was even less action at the Tsunamii site), but I was
disappointed about the Raqs Media Collective (RMC). The presentation of
the work "Co-Ordinates: 28.28N/77.15E : : 2001/2002" was very bland,
even if it was glossy. Apparently the collective tried to present or
recreate the streets of a large Indian city at the exhibition. A black
space with a few columns covered in glossy colorful stickers and some
flat TV screens showing crowds just didn't do the trick. On line the
work looks better, but to call it a solution for questions around
authorship (see the Manovich review again)
final review DXI
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Type: discussion