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The place in front
of the main building appears like a field of
obelisks. Yet, from up
close one recognizes an installation of sculptures shaped like
bread
rolls.
The unfettered
embellishment of this ensemble demonstrates how deceptive one's
perception can be from a distance. It is a strong
statement about things which can only be discerned on closer
inspection.
And this brings us
to the most important exibition of contemporary art, the Budomenta 14.
During our tour we will introduce selected pieces
and let experts have their
say.
A real innovation
is the philosophy of active consumption. Instead of an admission
ticket each visitor is given a hula
hoop.
Behind the entrance we are greeted by a dog made
of shiny metal. It is as big as a barn door, with a collar and a
leash full of holes hanging loosely to the
ground.
This is an isotope of collateral art, whose
unagitated manner is defying any analysis. The monolithic aesthetic
speaks for
itself.
A little further on, pictures and
sculptures by old masters have been arranged. In between is a
cesspool with a plastic vulture circling over it. The whole set is
framed by premium tropical wood. Communication teams feed the
willing audience arguments for the importance and beauty of the
display.
This production is arousing kinetic
nausea. "A spectacle of ignorance and collective punishment of all
senses", some say; for others it provides an opportunity to forge
the art market according to their own visions. On all
accounts it is a harbinger of things to
come.
I have to object. What a
courageous and wonderful approach
! Of course, one can be divided on the importance of the
work, but not responding to it at all reveals a
tertiary understanding of democracy. Such a presentation
is able to familiarize the general public with the magic of
unrestrained
globalization.
Passing by mimes
who are throwing imaginary paint bombs, we get to one of the few
poetry readings. The performer is squatting on a trash can and
reciting for hours the same sentence which reads:
"The path was my
goal, and deception was the
toll."
It is a majestic work. In professional literature
it is revered as the first acoustic room
divider.
One of the crowd-pullers is the pavillon with a
neon sign saying "Waiting Period". Inside, multicoloured bananas are
dangling from the ceiling. They can be reached for but will
eventually fall off by themselves, so most visitors are just
lying under them and wait.
This makes one think - and then again
not.
New technologies are addressed by a neighbouring
pasture. It is equipped with a huge ground-level keyboard labeled
with parts of sentences.
Several times a day, cows, pigs, goats, sheep,
chickens and more are running around on the area. After a grammar
check by a computer with ten grams of artificial intelligence, the
generated sentences are published in social
networks.
How, if at all, and why should that
be reviewed
?
Definitely as the future of communication. An orgy
of symbols marshalled by
arbitrariness.
Pig number 45 already has millions of followers
and is actively involved in discussions about economic
policies. Is that acceptable
?
Any objective discrimination is based on one or
several asymmetric freedoms of opinion. It is a fact that the
performance is effortlessly bridging the gulf between incompetence
and bad
taste.
Let's turn to the pavillon in front of which
a huge funnel lined with dark fabric is exerting irresistible
attraction. Inside, a narrow aisle is dividing the space into two
sections.
On one side, the actors are pelting each other with
cotton balls and juggle with feathers. The background features self-portraits of ornamental
plants. Tofu with jute dressing accompanies the meditation on
ingrain wallpaper. Then it is time for a soap bubble first-person shooter.
On the other side, the protagonists are practising with
yo-yos made of dumbbells and steel chains, play dodgeball with
bowling balls and trample on each other. After some anvil-biting
they scream at themselves in mirrors. A pillow fight with frozen
beef carcasses rounds the act off.
We are balancing on the continously narrowing
pathway and have to avoid to take a tumble.
This demonstration is an extrovert statement about the
real art scene. Anybody denying this, will also deny the other climate
change.
Outside again, there is a platform with a large
construction resembling the Olympic
rings. It is perfectly
illuminated, and the cameras mounted around it are broadcasting the
show all over the
world.
Professional
athletes are hopping up and down or back and forth and make upside
down jumping-jacks while the sparklers attached to them are burning
away.
Some are dancing
infatuatedly around an array of cups and
medals.
Others have climbed
to the top and whirl cast-iron hula hoops with forceful
movements.
Meanwhile, there is
the premiere of a three-dimensional chess game with
bollards.
A
hip-hop version of
the national anthem provides the
soundscape.
At the grand
finale, the stage is doused with confetti, soon to be replaced by a
flood of banknotes, which are blurring all contours beyond
recognition.
In the past, something like this was not
considered possible, but nowadays completely new consumers are
targeted who cannot get enough of
it.
The official exhibition catalogue praises the
extravaganza as modern sport art. Insiders, however, see it as a
preemptive memorial to the duality between exploitation and
decadence.
Here a creative niche is taken
advantage of, which makes the spectator an accomplice.
Without doubt it is a social portrayal full of
wasted potentials, open to any interpretation but with an
unambiguous
message.
This
reminds one of the parallel exhibition to the Budomenta 14, which
depicts how cultures can be curated into ruin by the symbiosis of
capitalism and
dilettantism.
One more time, we are looking at the front lawn,
where more and more persons are sticking their heads into the bread
roll
sculptures.
On leaving the
venue, every visitor is handed out a new hula hoop, this time in
distinguished
black.
What remains are
vivid images of the status quo and a reflection about the
Budomenta of the future. Such events do have the potential for greatness,
but they can as well get stuck in a swamp of institutionalized
blunders. Then the midwives of the concept will become its
destroyers.
However, there are other, among them also smaller
events worth
attending.
On that note, we
say goodbye until next time, and we hula hoop into the sunset, to
boldly search for art where no one has searched it before.
© 2017 DEA + GNM + HAW +
TDI +
UNE | 
