Documenta 13: Occupy - Project/Projekt d13 [English/Deutsch]

Dear art enthusiasts,

a few days ago the documenta14, one of the most important art-exhibitions of the world, opened its doors in Kassel (Germany). To get you in the mood, I want to show you some of the artworks from the last documenta, which took place five years ago in 2012.


Here is a very special work:

Occupy: Project d13

(Part A: Collapse of the adjusted)

Occupy Movement

The Occupy movement started in September 2011, when protesters began to "occupy" Wall Street in New York City. Only one month later, Occupy protests had taken place in over 951 cities across 82 countries.

The Occupy movement is an international socio-political movement against social and economic inequality and lack of "real democracy" around the world, its primary goal being to advance social and economic justice and new forms of democracy.

Source

Occupy documenta

Right from the start of the documenta 13, some Occupy tents had been rigged on the main place of the exhibition called "Friedrichsplatz", right in front of the "Museum Fridericianum". After a short time the occupants expanded their camp by adding an installation of 28 simple white tents, that should remind people of a town house complex. According to their own statements, this complex is contradicting the "vivid" camp, that stands for "the redevelopment of thinking".

Criticism of capitalism

20 terms had been printed on the tents, like greed, pride, and envy. They symbolize the "basic problems of our times", as told by an Occupy spokesman. "We believe, that the insidious collapse is happening behind the nice curtain", he continues.

Collapse and reconstruction

It actually was the first time in history of the documenta, that an inofficial artwork had been welcomed by the director. It even has been seen in the spirit of famous german artist Joseph Beuys, who discussed his ideas of "direct democracy through national referendums" with the visitors od documenta 5 in 1972.

The art director of the documenta, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, welcomed the initiative, according to a spokeswoman. The management of the documenta initially discussed, how they should react to this new situation, but decided to not do anything about it. "We will not arrange to remove the tents", said the spokeswomen.

Source (my translation)

There was even an official sign later on, that explained the campaign to the visitors:

Zusammenbruch und Wiederaufbau

Es war das erste Mal in der Geschichte der documenta, dass ein nicht offizielles Kunstwerk von der Leitung begrüßt wurde. Man sah es sogar im Geiste von Joseph Beuys, der zur documenta 5 (1972) mit seinem Informationsbüro der "Organisation für direkte Demokratie durch Volksabstimmung" mit den Besuchern über die Idee der direkten Demokratie durch Volksabstimmung diskutierte.

Die künstlerische Leiterin der documenta, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, begrüßte die Aktion nach Angaben einer Sprecherin. Die documenta-Leitung hatte zunächst beraten, wie sie auf die neue Situation reagieren soll, kam dann aber zu dem Schluss, dass sie nichts unternehmen will. "Wir werden nicht veranlassen, dass die Zelte abgebaut werden", sagte die Sprecherin.

Quelle

Später gab es sogar ein offizielles Schild, das den Besuchern die Aktion erklärt hat:

More information

For more information about the Occupy camp at documenta 13, you might want to check out this field-journal article. And here is the website of the Occupy movement, which has become a bit quiet these days.

Thanks for watching!