The fourteenth installation of Documenta was inevitably a success and in the short week I was in Kassel, this gathering of contemporary art proved to be much more fulfilling than the Venice Biennale. This year, the exhibit was held in both Athens and Kassel, however, I did not feel as though I was missing anything…
two jackasses talking about art
brought to you by Lillie and Alexa: we made a “podcast” to talk about art because we are “experimental” and “breaking medium” please enjoy. or don’t. we understand if you don’t.
Audience’s Encore
Performance based art has been a reoccurring theme at the Venice Biennale and Documenta. In the Venice Biennale, we saw the Venice pavilion and the German pavilion. At Documenta we saw Documenta Halle and “Zero to Infinity” by Rasheed Araeen. The amount of communal spaces, manipulative art, and other forms of performance style art creates…
War Crime Remembrance in Japan and Germany
When I was studying abroad in Japan, I visited a shrine in Tokyo that I have continually thought about on this program as a point of comparison between how Japan has dealt with the legacy of World War II versus how Germany has dealt with the same issue. This shrine, called Yasukuni Jinja, essentially serves…
Interior Decoration: Memento Mori
I have tried to take in so much art during my short time here at Documenta. Some of it has been more impressionable than others. An artist that really stood out for me was Bonita Ely, who is an Australian artist who displayed a series of sculptural works in the Palais Belluve. The series was…
Lover Nature: Eco-art Through Radical Sex
I have been on the hunt for some radical eco-activist art. Given the state of our planet and the urgency felt by many across the globe for mass action towards ecological change, I assumed multiple examples of art in Documenta and the Venice Biennale would be commenting on this trend and even artists would position…
The Surreal and the Sublime: Making the Usual Unusual
I find myself especially drawn to art works that explore the surreal. Not necessarily art that falls within the Surrealist movement, but art that looks at or lets you have an experience rooted in the surreal. Often times, these works also deal with the sublime, a merger of fear and beauty that leaves you feeling…
“Ist hier noch frei?” Communal Seating in Germany
In Germany, you share space. At the brauhaus, at the café, at the library, at the biergarten, you sit communally, next to people you do not know and people you do. Before arriving in Germany, I was told that communal seating is very common, but I had only really expected it in the context of…
Methodical Absurdity: Fluxus Poetry
If you visit Cologne, Museum Ludwig has to be on your shortlist. It is hands down one of the best collections of modern and contemporary art I have ever seen. I spent almost an entire day at the museum, and it still was not quite enough. One of the highlights was the temporary exhibition the…