Thursday, July 7, 2022

What Is This Documenta 'Scandal' All About?

 Well....in the 1950s....up in Kassel (city in northern Hessen)....there was a fest started up with artists.  Lets just say that the original intent was to produce modern art....by locals and regional folks, to show off for a few weeks.  I'll say for the sake of the argument here....this was ultra modern stuff, and most of us would have just nodded, and moved on.

So this year....a funny thing happen. 

There is a display where a artist went used symbiology of the 1930s....cartoon characters....themes....that would have been pro-Nazi in various ways.

Yeah, a whole lot of anti-Semitism stuff.

So this invoked some scandal about who approved what, and did the leaders of the fest grasp what was going up on display.

Some people say that the artists involved.....signed something to indicate this would not violate any rules.  Maybe true....maybe not.

It's reached a stage where it's NOT just a local scandal....but it's gotten to the state assembly, and talked about nationally.

The term 'failure in planning' gets uttered a lot presently.

The issue presently?  Who failed, and who can be blamed?  Frankly, after viewing a fair amount of chatter....I'd say that almost no one viewed the project before it was put up, and it almost reminds of Air Force events where ten different officers were supposed to review and sign off on something....only to discover later that one single Airman 'Snuffy' actually signed the paperwork.  

But this all begs the question....this 1930s 'copy' of art done....would 95-percent of people at the event have recognized it as such?  I have my doubts.  While I'll admit that my art knowledge is 'crap'....I would say the same level exists for two-thirds of German society today.  

What happens in 2023?  I'll suggest that more than fifty-odd people have to review your art before it gets on the display at the next Documenta.  

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