documenta 7
From June 19 to September 28, 1982 documenta 7 took place under the artistic direction of Rudi Fuchs . The documenta 7 was the most theoretical world exhibition of art and marked a trend reversal compared to the documents that had taken place up to then.
In the foreword to the exhibition catalog, Rudi Fuchs emphasized that he wanted to avoid a nervous exhibition , rather he wanted to organize a documenta that does justice to the dignity of art . Documenta 7 therefore took on a very museum-like character.
With 387,381 tickets sold, a new visitor record was set in Kassel .
Exhibition locations
The exhibition venues were the Fridericianum , the Neue Galerie , the orangery in the Karlsaue park and the Karlsaue itself.
The Museum Fridericianum presented itself for the first time in a new state of renovation carried out by the State Building Department. The provisional rough character of the previous condition, which gave the previous documents their special charisma, was thereby removed. The new exhibition rooms, on the other hand, were prepared to match the museum character of documenta 7.
Works of art
The focus of documenta 7 was on painting. The current of the so-called "New Wilds" was given a lot of space. Another focus of the exhibition was conceptual art.
The most spectacular contribution was made by Joseph Beuys , who caused a lively discussion throughout the city with his “City deforestation instead of city administration” campaign and the associated planting campaign for 7,000 trees. It would take five years before the last basalt stele, which was set with every tree planted, was transported to its destination from the pile in front of the Fridericianum Museum. The last tree of the 7000 Eichen campaign was planted by Wenzel Beuys, the son of Joseph Beuys, for documenta 8 in 1987 next to the first oak as the end of the campaign in front of the Fridericianum.
With the documenta-accompanying program of events of the Free International University (FIU), Beuys provided further public and media-effective happenings in addition to the main program of documenta 7. These included the public melting action of a replica of a tsar's crown to a golden rabbit and an action against animal experiments under the Motto: “For the first and last time, we give those responsible for these tortures the opportunity to carry out experiments on a living person in front of the public for a day, if it can be guaranteed that the experimenters will no longer conduct any further experiments on animals or on animals People perform, unless the patient expressly wishes to do so with full risk awareness ”.
The landmark became the pick of Claes Oldenburg , the most Fulda banks remained. The pickaxe marks the point where the extended axis of Wilhelmshöher Allee intersects the Fulda. The artist's idea was for the pickaxe to be thrown by Hercules . The giant castle in Park Wilhelmshöhe with the Hercules statue is, according to the baroque park and town planning, at the other end of the same axis. The pickaxe does not have the same scale as the Hercules figure, as it is intended to act alone in its environment. (Claes Oldenburg wrote on a draft sketch for the project: Hercules throws - pick-ax grows .)
According to a concept by Adam Jankowski , the exhibition “Metabolism K18” was organized as a parallel event to the documenta. Works by twelve Hamburg artists were shown in two former factory halls.
documenta urbana
documenta urbana is a word created by documenta initiator Arnold Bode from the 2nd half of the 20th century. In particular, it is understood to mean a residential development in the south-west of Kassel , on the Dönche , which was built between 1980 and 1982 , the name of which refers to the term coined by Bode.
The residential development under the name documenta urbana is not to be understood as part of the documenta institution or one of the documenta exhibitions. Rather, it forms a permanent settlement created for demonstration and exhibition purposes. This stands in the tradition of exemplary projects such as the garden city of Hellerau , the Werkbundsiedlungen ( Weißenhofsiedlung ) and the Berlin IBA in the Hansaviertel . The documenta urbana can be viewed as a late, and in terms of urban planning, postmodern , counter-position to plans such as the Hansaviertel.
A special feature of the documenta urbana is still living in the countryside on an urban construction site. Its main attraction and symbol is a row of houses jointly designed by six architecture offices, the so-called residential snake . The different views of the planners are reflected in its eleven different segments.
The buildings that were erected from 1980 onwards were described by the initiators as a “built contribution to a documenta urbana”. The completion of the residential buildings was set for 1982, the year in which documenta 7 was to take place. Its artistic director, Rudi Fuchs, showed no interest and did not accept the documenta urbana as a contribution to the d7.
Participating artists
A total of 182 artists took part in the documenta:
Works of art remaining in Kassel
- 7000 oak trees - city deforestation instead of city administration by Joseph Beuys , (1982–1987; completed for documenta 8 ) - Location: Everywhere in the city of Kassel
- Granite block (330 × 180 × 100 cm) split into three parts, by Ulrich Rückriem - Location: Green area next to the Neue Galerie
- Pickaxe from Claes Oldenburg - Location: On the banks of the Fulda
- Truisms (wall painting) by Jenny Holzer (until 2002, then destroyed during the renovation of the house) - Location: Neue Fahrt / corner of Opernstraße.
Sources and literature
- Schneckenburger, Manfred (ed.); documenta - idea and institution: tendencies, concepts, materials; Munich 1983 ISBN 3-7654-1902-8
- Press materials for documenta 7, Kassel 1982
- Zumpfe, Ralf / Schrader, Karin / Thiemann, Carsten; Architectural Guide Kassel 1900 - 1999; Kassel 1997 ISBN 3-87816-087-9
- Catalog: documenta 7 Kassel ; Vol. 1: (visual biographies of the artists); Vol. 2: (Current works of the artists); Kassel 1982 ISBN 3-920453-02-6
- Cultural Office of the City of Kassel / documenta archive (ed.) / CIS GmbH (prod.); CD: Documenta 1-9 - A focus on four decades of exhibition history / Profiling four decades of exhibition history - 1955 - 1992 ; Kassel / Würzburg 1997 ISBN 3-89322-934-5
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ documenta 7 - retrospective - documenta. Retrieved May 23, 2017 .
- ↑ Jörg Möller: The white rat - The end of torment. Free International University, 1982.
- ↑ The Artwork - Volume 36 - Page 41, 1983.
- ↑ documenta 7 - retrospective - documenta. Retrieved May 23, 2017 .