No Condition is Permanent

Abstract

dOCUMENTA (13) Kassel, Germany June 9-September 16, 2012 Every five year the small town of Kassel in the middle of Germany become the word's preeminent hub for contemporary art. Documenta in a format less restrictive than just an exhibition site. And this tear's edition is even bigger than previous years' with more venues events seminars and publications as a prelude to the show such as 100 Note 100 Thoughts by renowned artists philosophers. Scientists, etc, published from 2011 to 2012 that ever before year's Documenta branches out to three temporary venues around the globe: Alexandria/Gairo Kabul and the Canadian Banff Center. dOCUMENTA (13)'s engagement with the Middle East deserves closer look in particular and it seems that while all credit should be given to the acknowledgement of recent political events the selection of participating artists and spaces seems rather one-side. Egypt has a rich and diverse art scene and a little more variety would have been beneficial. dOCUMENTA (13) has focused on Alexandria leaving out spaces and initiatives such as the Young Artists Coalition founded in January 2011. Khaled Hafez's Friday Studio, the ASCII Foundation for media art in the impoverished neighborhood of Ard El Lewd or the Mammar Studio founded by Aida Eltorie and Karim Al Husscini all offering slightly different take on the multifaceted art scene in Egypt The main venue remains of course in Kassel and there the center is to be found at the Fridericianum traditionally the heart of the show. Here curator Carolyn Christoy-Bakargiey placed the of the exhibition a multitude of object artworks statements and video footage from different time periods styles, and mediums ranging from Bactrian Priucesses Central Asia, c. 2000 B.C. to footage of Egyptian artist Ahmed Basiony which he recorded right before his assassination in Tahrir Square last year: and from paintings by Giorgio Morandi to deformed objects from the Beirut National Musecum, which were damaged during the Lebanese Givil War 1975 90. Christov-Bakargiev rejected curatorial preconceptions and described her concept of this year's Docummenta as a state of mind rather than exhibition. Instead she is interested in procedural question in artmaking and discourses concerning the most pressing sociopolitical or economic agendas of our times. When her approach to a non-curated Documenta first become in Germany and even more so when she advocated a less anthropocentric worldview and noting rights for dogs. Though obviously exaggerated and humorously thrown at critics these statements nevertheless triggered both incredulity and curiosity. Aside from the curator's brain at the Fridericianum there is admittedly little guidance to the multitude of artistic statements and works the positions to be discovered are vast. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In addition to the main building of the Fridericianum the documenta-Halle, the Orangerie, the Neue Galerie, and the Hauptbahnhof Central Station all of which display a number of works and installations there are a seemingly endless number of smaller venues. Some of these are rather unusual department stores bunkers or abandoned buildings and structures, and contain more unconventional art works. While Tino Seghal's This Variation. a black room with live performed sound and voice effects, is located on the map there is no mention in the exhibition catalog, and no label or number next to the site. Seghal has yet again rejected all material traces of his work (one should not that the pages 438 9 dedicated to his work in the guidebook are missing), countering the art market's ever-increasing obsession with object values. In close proximity to Seghal is Theaster Gates's 12 Ballads for the Huguenot House. …