documenta theme 1
Is Modernity our Antiquity?
The worlds most influencial art show, Documenta, held every 5 years in Kassel, Germany opens June 16, and rund through the summer. Three themes (ok......"leitmotifs) ( those Germans!) have been anounced, and the first confirms a premise that I ponder frequently in my articles, lectures and book, that of defining modernity. The Lietmotif of modernity as being the same as out antiquity is a reality that all of us creative face. Come on, visit any trendy boutique, furniture show or even Target, and the newest of the new looks more like 1967 than 2007.
We all know that modernity peaked in 1972, that there is nothin more modern than minimalism, but what about the future? If we have been recycling everything over the past two decades, what will happen once we recycle everything?
More disturbing...if creatives get much of thier inspiration from the worlds leading contemporary art exhibitions like Documenta, or the Venice Biennale, or the Whitney Biennial.....let's look at what the curators of these shows are saying. For instance, if Documenta's theme isn't proof enought that we've seen it all before......what about this......
" Today's artistic situation is highly complex, contradictory, and confusing. It's an environment that few can make sense of. Despite the proliferation of large scale, comprehensive international exhibitions-triennials, biennials, and the like-that aspire to reveal trends and meaning, the current state of affairs seems more complicated than ever given the sheer number of working artists and the morass of seemingly conflicting styles, conceptions and directions."
Alan Wienbergm Director
The Whitney Museum
(from the foreward of the 2006 Whitney Biennial)
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