The fourteenth edition of Documenta just launched in Kassel, following its Athens outing in April. This year for the first time Documenta took place at two cities in two countries due to its conceptual framework that concentrated on the duality of South and North instead of East and West. Greek art tradition informed the selection of the works, which at the various exhibition venues in Kassel, felt like a clash of clans. Everything could come together or nothing would actually work. A spectrum of genres from photography to painting, video to sculpture spanned through the institutions and outdoor spaces that Dokumenta curatorial team chose to facilitate. Sadly there are not a buzzing list of artists to follow, but some giants to appreciate: most outstanding works were video installations by Douglas Gordon documentary on Jonas Mekas, Naeem Mohaiemen recount of the Nonalighment Movement.
The tradition of such seminal exhibition, to generate statements on and about art, to activate the discourse of art was somehow manifested in the way captions for art works were produced: some of them were seemingly unedited, some only informed about the medium of the work and others were simply missing….
