This weekend we're heading to documenta 12, supposedly regarded as the most important exhibition of contemporary art in the world. It only comes around every five years -- always in Kassel, Germany -- so I figured I wouldn't wait until 2012 since I'm here in Germany now.
Questions this year's installment poses for art and its public:
Is humanity able to recognize a common horizon beyond all differences? Is art the medium for this knowledge?
What constitutes life, when everything is subtracted which does not belong essentially to life? Does art help us to penetrate to what is essential?
What is to be done, what do we have to learn in order to cope intellectually and spiritually with globalisation? Is that a question of aesthetic education and cultivation?
Interesting stuff. I'll let you know of any answers we discover.
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3 comments:
"Is humanity able to recognize a common horizon beyond all differences? Is art the medium for this knowledge?"
..hm maybe? :)
"What constitutes life, when everything is subtracted which does not belong essentially to life? Does art help us to penetrate to what is essential?"
..yes..penetrate... to what is essential-maybe?
"What is to be done, what do we have to learn in order to cope intellectually and spiritually with globalisation? Is that a question of aesthetic education and cultivation?"
..knowledge about the mechanism behind all that it is a good think I guess.
(excuse my english)
Don
Thanks for your comments, Don.
My initial thoughts:
"Is humanity able to recognize a common horizon beyond all differences? Is art the medium for this knowledge?"
I believe a common horizon exists and that art is one way to access, or catch a glimpse of, this horizon. I don't think, however, that all humanity is able or willing to recognize this horizon nor that art -- as a singular, visual language -- is a medium everyone can relate to or understand.
"What constitutes life, when everything is subtracted which does not belong essentially to life? Does art help us to penetrate to what is essential?"
Life is experiencing, feeling, knowing. For me personally, art activates, and is a part of, these essentials. Others, however, penetrate to the essential with music, or language, or religion, or....
"What is to be done, what do we have to learn in order to cope intellectually and spiritually with globalisation? Is that a question of aesthetic education and cultivation?"
As we become a global society, an understanding of cultural practices/heritages/nuances -- which would have to include aesthetics in at least some regard -- is important for productive and viable communities. But if "aesthetic education and cultivation" is a fancy way of saying "art appreciation" and/or "promoting the arts by supporting people in the field," of course I'm all for it, but I don't think it will get the spotlight.
Interesting to note: my sister's master's degree program in global studies (which I'm using not as representative, but as one example) emphasizes economics and policy, and by no means "aesthetic education/cultivation." I.e., according to her university, the answer to the second part of this question would be: no.
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