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Volume CXXXII, Number 11 |
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Discussing 'Documenta'
MEREDITH HOAR
STAFF WRITER
Ellen Kenney '03, a visual art major, led this semester's final session of the Quinby House Discussion Series on Wednesday. Kenney spoke about Documenta, a large art show that has taken place in Kassel, Germany approximately every five years since 1955. Kenney, who attended the most recent Documenta while abroad last year, showed both her own photographs of the exhibition as well as other images of the art from Documenta.
"You could say that [Documenta is] a holdover from modernism," said Kenny. The show features 100 artists and is held in a large warehouse. Almost every artist has their own room within the installation. Because artists differ so much from each other, going from one room to another can be quite jarring. The viewer is "jolted from one setting to another," said Kenney.
Kenney selected some work from a few artists that had installations at Documenta to share with her audience at Quinby. The first artist she selected to speak about, William Eggleston, is a well established American color photographer from the Mississippi Delta whom Kenney describes as "unabashedly provincial." She described Eggleston's subjects as sometimes "so banal they actually become quite epic."
Another artist whom Kenney highlighted was Mona Hatoum. Her installation at Documenta featured a numbers of wires running across a room, with metal furniture set up behind the wire. The furniture was all connected with wires as well, to create a circuit from which an audible buzzing could be heard. Light bulbs were also attached and lit up within the circuit.
The medium of documentary film was also exhibited at Documenta. Kutlug Ataman, a Turkish artist, displayed work that is "not your Discovery Channel documentary style," said Kenney. Ataman's installation at Documenta featured images of orchids displayed all over the room, so the viewer is surrounded by images of orchids. The audio of the installation features Ataman discussing how to take care of a particular type of orchid with a woman who collects the flowers.
Arnd Seibert '04, who has attended Documenta, came to Kenney's discussion at Quinby as well. Kenney turned to Seibert, a German, for help with a few questions about the geography of Kassel (the city where the show takes place) as well as with German pronunciations.
Quinby House will continue to sponsor the Discussion Series next semester, featuring professors, staff, and students leading conversations a variety of topics.
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