documenta X

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Deutsche Post special stamps for documenta X 1997

The 10th documenta , the documenta X (or: dX as a symbol with the red "X" as the Roman "10" behind or on the small black "d") took place from June 21 to September 28, 1997 under the artistic direction the French Catherine David in Kassel . The managing director of documenta and the Museum Fridericianum Veranstaltungs-GmbH was Bernd Leifeld for the first time .

Catherine David demanded that documenta X be a “retro perspective”. Behind this creation of words concealed the fact that the dX, as the last major art exhibition of the 20th century, should be a retrospective on the one hand , i.e. a review in order to “take a critical look at history, the recent post-war past and what of it culture and contemporary art. ”(Catherine David in the preface to the short guide to the dX). From a “critical” “current” perspective, this perspective was intended to examine important positions that emerged in the 1960s and were thematized in the art world in the last 30 years of the 20th century.

Catherine David linked political and social topics in the exhibition concept of the dX and for the first time raised the claim for a globalized approach for the documenta . With this approach, the first course for the internationalized documenta11 was set by Okwui Enwezor in 2002.

Volkswagen was a sponsor of documenta X

The lecture and event series 100 days - 100 guests was placed as the second level of the exhibition concept . Here, among others, philosophers, art critics, journalists, filmmakers, architects and urban planners, psychoanalysts, economists and other people had their say in order to provide the actual exhibition with an additional theoretical framework.

The catalog for documenta X (idea and concept by Catherine David and Jean-François Chevrier ) was no longer an exhibition catalog in the true sense of the word , but the book for documenta X , subtitle: Politics - Poetics . The over 800-page work is an extensive reader with which the attempt was made to “ define a political context for the interpretation of artistic activity at the end of the 20th century” (foreword).

628,776 visitors in Kassel were able to grapple with the question of whether the documenta X was too “ intellectual ”, as some critics accused the documenta director.

Exhibition locations

New to the exhibition concept of documenta X was the creation of a didactic course as a guided exhibition path. The exhibition and event locations of the d10 were arranged in a logical order that began at the Kulturbahnhof (the former main train station, in the symbolic sense of an arrival point ). In the Kulturbahnhof, the south wing of the building and the railway systems were included in the exhibition. The course continued through the underpasses of the Kulturbahnhof and the stairs street and along the stairs street itself. Further on the Friedrichsplatz the exhibition buildings Museum Fridericianum , Ottoneum and the documenta hall were included in the schedule. Down to the Karlsaue over the orangery , the course ended on the Fulda with Martin Kippenberger's transportable underground entrance as an antipode to the starting point and symbolic “departure point”. With the purchase of an entrance ticket, visitors to documenta 10 were given a map with directions and a site plan for the course.

Works of art

Painting was less represented at the dX than at the previous documents. The presence in the urban space via outdoor works of art was also much more reserved.

For the first time, the Internet was represented as a new medium for artistic expression. (Reportage) photography and video art took up a large space. The documenta X was accompanied by an extensive film program.

In the literature on documenta X, two works appear again and again that are obviously symbolic for the dX: Peter Kogler's "tubes" painting ("wallpaper") on the walls and ceilings of the (otherwise almost empty) documenta hall and Gerhard Richter's "Atlas" made up of hundreds of sketches, photos, studies and drafts that represented his actual oeuvre.

“There was no way I wanted to match any kind of visual consensus in choosing the artists . My intention was to stay close to the variety of “tempi” ” (Catherine David).

Participating artists

A total of 121 artists took part in the event.

The 100 guests

Works of art remaining in Kassel

Lois Weinberger's contribution to Documenta X - Situation in 2008

Planting of a railroad track with neophytes and native vegetation, length 100 m; Location: Kulturbahnhof (main station), platform 1

literature

  • (documenta 10 catalog): Politics - Poetics - the book on documenta X; Kassel / Ostfildern 1997, ISBN 3-89322-909-4 , (German) / ISBN 3-89322-911-6 , (English)
  • Stehr, Werner / Kirschenmann, Johannes (eds.): Materials for documenta X; Ostfildern 1997, ISBN 3-89322-921-3 .
  • documenta X short guide; Ostfildern 1997, ISBN 3-89322-938-8 .
  • dX 100 days - 100 guests / 100 days - 100 guests; Lectures, discussions and events / films / theater: program; Kassel 1997
  • dX Parcours - exhibition; Leader; Kassel 1997
  • Kimpel, Harald: documenta, myth and reality , Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7701-4182-2 .
  • Schwarze, Dirk: Milestones: 50 years of documenta , Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-936962-23-5 .
  • Glasmeier, Michael / Stengel, Karin (Ed.): 50 Jahre / Years documenta 1955 - 2005; 2 volumes: Discrete Energies / archive in motion; Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-86521-146-1 .

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