artintelligence

In another post I wrote about the “Documenta 12 effect” deploying a Baudrillard-like methodology of pessimistic futurology. The endpoint of the fictional Documenta 12 effect is a Pruitt Igoe-like demolition of the institution of fine art: which from an anti-capitalist standpoint may not be such a bad thing. (more…)

Hu Xiaoyuan’s installation A keepsake I cannot give away, 2005, (photo-detail on left by Michael J. Hussman) was given a great deal of prominence in Documenta 12 and for good reason, she is a genuine discovery. The only previous exhibition I can find for her is in 2005: Mahjong–Chinesische Gegenwartskunst (Chinese Contemporary Art) at the Kunstmuseum Bern (Artfacts). I have criticised the curation of Documenta 12 because a lot of work on exhibition either wasn’t very visually inspiring or was presented with such minimal labelling that crucial contextual information was kept from the audience. This was not really the case for Hu Xiaoyuan’s work although, given that she was a new name, a little more context than the no frills–name, title, date, medium, size–label would have been welcome. (more…)

In another post I referred to the “Documenta 12 effect” which refers to the manner in which the artistic director of Documenta 12, Roger Buergel, attempted a transvaluation of fine art by focusing on work that was visually uninteresting. The pieces exhibited by Alejandra Riera and Ueinzz at Documenta 12 fit into this category. Yet they are of great value because they point to a possible end to the erosion of category “art” initiated by the viral impact of the Duchampian Readymade; due to the fact that they indicate a point at which we can justifiably state “this is not art”. (more…)

Yoshimasa Kato and Yuichi Ito received honourable mention in the category interactive art for their work White Lives on Speaker, at Ars Electronica 2007. Remarkably the artists responsible for this fascinating work are 25 and 24 years old respectively. As the video (VIDEO CLIP) demonstrates the work entails hooking up a member of the audience to an electroencephalograph and feeding the subject’s brain waves into software (Max/Msp) that transposes them into audio frequency output that can power a heavy-duty loudspeaker.

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Combing through my photo-documentation Documenta 12 I stumbled upon the work of Hito Steyerl. I did not know anything about her when I encountered her work at Documenta 12, but researching for this post I now think Steyerl is one of the few gems in that extremely flawed exhibition. But when I saw the work she exhibited at Documenta 12 it did not make a big impression, and I did not spend too much time with it. This is not especially surprising, however, due to the fact that her video projection was exhibited in an atrium. In retrospect, it is almost mind-numbing to think how a curator (in this case Roger M. Buergel) could throw away one of the small number of potentially interesting works in his show by positioning it so badly. (more…)

I am revisiting my folder of photographs and videos taken at Documenta 12 in order to begin an archaeological investigation of why such a major exhibition failed. One of the theories evident in the reception of Documenta 12 is that many of the artists were unknown. One can take this at face value, but there were artists in the exhibition who are well known and some who, although less known, have acquired a significant degree of recognition within the Euro-American art system, one such is the Indian documentary filmmaker and artist Amar Kanwar. (more…)

Susan Philipsz’s The Lost Reflection, 2007, is a sound installation under the Tormin Bridge (Torminbruecke) on Lake Aa that was commissioned by the Munster Sculpture Project 07. It was one of the most outstanding contributions to the 2007 Sculpture Project. The fact that another sound work by Suchan Kinochita, was also outstanding indicates that sculptural installation is beginning to lose its grip after over fifteen years of sharing aesthetic ascendancy with video art. Some of the weakest pieces in Munster this year were fag ends of endless sculptural installation variations on the Readymade theme. (more…)

Rebecca Horn’s Der Zwinger was a rerun of a site-specific, immersive installation Horn had contributed to a previous Munster Sculpture Project and which was resurrected for the 2007 Sculpture Project. The venue was an historic building and part of the documentation accompanying the exhibition included a photograph of the building from the Nazi era, the caption for the photograph draws the viewer’s attention to the swastika in the front window. (more…)

Annette Wehrmann’s contribution to Munster Sculpture Project 07, Aaspa: Wellness am See (AaSpa Wellness by the Lake) consisted of a simulated building site. Her work can be understood as a symptom of a more general aesthetic zeitgeist in which artists express a desire to be socially useful and immediately deconstruct this outrageous yearning. (more…)

Minimalism just won’t go away, in spite of the surge of grunge that accompanied art of the 1990s. The Swedish artist Jacob Dahlgren (b. 1970) shows just how minimalism can be revitalised by leveraging the power of ‘interactivity’ .

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Rudolf Stingel’s, Untitled, 2003 was a massive pseudo-minimalist attempt at an interactive installation installed at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. The installation consisted of covering the walls of a small ante-room and a vast main gallery with aluminium foil-coated insulating material punctuated by pseudo-minimalist wall reliefs created by Stingel out of Styrofoam sheets. But, ostensibly, the principal purpose of this work is not to demonstrate the artist’s genius but rather give the viewer a go. The question can be posed, however, as to what exactly the viewer was given a go at. (more…)

Rivane Neuenschwander’s […], 2004, graced the Arsenale on the occasion of the 51st Venice Biennale. The work is of considerable interest due to it being one of the rare attempts when a fine artist tries to break down the barrier between the audience and the work of art. (more…)

Another interesting piece in Maria de Corral’s Italian Pavilion show, 51st Venice Biennale, 2005, was Cuban artist Tania Bruguera’s immersive installation, Poetic Justice, 2001-03. Mouse over images for captions.

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One of the delights of Maria de Corral’s curation of the Italian Pavilion for the 51st Venice Biennale, 2005, was the work of the German painter Matthais Weischer (b. 1973). I include a selection of examples from his works on show. Titles can be found by mouse over the thumbnails, click thumbnail to enlarge.

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In previous posts I have been very critical of the curator of Documenta 12, Roger Buergel, but in this post I would like to stand back from any sense of personal annoyance and look at Documenta 12 with as much objectivity that I can muster.

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I have been trying to sort out the hundreds of photographs I took at the Venice Biennale in 2005 and I came across Maria de Corral’s curatorial statement for the Italian pavilion. (more…)