Documenta is undeniably an important date in the contemporary art calendar. What makes Documenta different from other proposals is, amongst other things, the pace of the work beforehand and the certainty that it is in the process of making history. Making history, almost nothing. This summer another edition. dOCUMENTA (13), with this spelling that forces us to break all orthographic rules when the name appears at the beginning of a sentence after a full stop.
Well, dOCUMENTA (13) does ask us to break a few rules. It also asks for a lot of time and long walks. It asks for a reconsideration of the referents that we use and if they really bear any correlation with what we are doing. At A*DESK we thought that something that asks for so much also needed the vision of many, it needed a polyhedral gaze where the tones, rhythms, objectives and approaches also stemmed from a desire to understand, analyse and be critical all at the same time.
At A*Magazine we present a special edition dedicated entirely to dOCUMENTA (13). From the moments beforehand, to direct encounters, while also looking for the distance that makes it possible to step back from the emotional to ask for a little more. Montse Badia, Juan Canela, Maite Garbayo, Javier Hontoria and Andreas M. Kaufmann draw us into one of the great moments of contemporary art.
Between the beginning and the end, it all takes place. But everything can be clarity or remains, brilliant moments or tense suspense. dOCUMENTA(13) generates a complex framework through works of art, that lends weight once again to the idea of the exhibition and, ultimately, to art itself.
Documenta has become the contemporary art event, par excellence. Proclaimed as the thing that marks the pace for art of the moment, it is hardly surprising that it provokes expectations and deceptions in equal measure.
dOCUMENTA (13) recurs to feminism, as well as other displaced and de-universalising discourses, to articulate a proposal that aims to be both political and critical. And even though in some senses it manages to do so, it is worth bearing in mind the place where certain artistic and discursive practices are presented, legitimised and run the risk of being absorbed by the maelstrom of the “trend”, thereby losing their subversive potential to end up falling in line with apolitical correctness.
dOCUMENTA (13) expands its locations, rhythms and objectives. The proposal seeks to influence, through art, the critical definition of the world. Lacking a clear conceptual thread, without any key words and with a high level of complexity. When the objectives are colossal, the way forward is never a bed of roses.
An exhibition is supposed to raise questions. dOCUMENTA (13) functions, in this sense, like an incredible machine, one that would be hard to imagine prior to its public presentation. Some questions are shared with the aim of understanding the project, its background and, why not, our reality.
