dOCUMENTA (13) - Day Three, Part Two

Tried the art in the bunkers just before lunch - not sure it was worth the hike, even though you got to wear a hard hat

In the late afternoon, I went to the Karlsaue Park to finish my trip - lots of work scattered around and a lovely place for a relaxing wind down after all of the excitement of the morning.

Had to go on the Swiss Chard Ferry by Christian Philipe Muller

And through Gabriel Lester's pipe, Transition.

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's sound piece in the middle of the forest didn't really work for me - compared to their piece in the station it was difficult to really lose yourself in the sound installation.

Fuck the art, let's go sail some boats ...

I did like Shinro Ahtake's shed and caravan installation, Mon Cher ; A self portrait as a scrapped shed - but then I like sheds...

Only spotted the canoes in the tree as I left the site .

Number five found and that's the full set ...

Just have to track down the related songbook - which has sold out.

Finished the day with a return trip to see all of Mika Taanila's three channel video installation, titled The Most Electrified Town in Finland. This is about the construction of the first nuclear plant built in the Western world after Chernobyl, in the small town of Eurajoki, Finland.
It was intended to open in 2009 but has been delayed due to bad planning and technical problems - feels like a pre-apocalyptic vision of a happy go lucky town and its small optimistic community.
The time lapse photography is really effective and allows you to see massive sclae construction in action.

Two local food finds to finish with:
Rhubarb pastry and Der Klasicker - ultra thin crust pizza base with red onion, gouda and bacon.

dOCUMENTA (13) - VM roving reporter 3

We were at a party
His ear lobe fell in the deep
Someone reached in and grabbed it
It was a rock lobster 
We were at the beach
Everybody had matching towels
Somebody went under a dock
And there they saw a rock
It wasn't a rock
It was a rock lobster 

dOCUMENTA (13) - Day Two

Started the day at the old railway station, built 1851-56 and today partly used for local trains and the rest empty or used for new purposes. Just north of the station are the manufacturing halls of Henschel and Sohn, which was one of the most important suppliers of armaments in the Second World War.

Brilliant piece by Istvan Csakany - a model of a rag trade factory all made out of wood

Haegue Yang's electric blinds could have been very exciting but needed more of them shutting and closing at the same time along the platform.

One of my highlights so far - Lara Favaretto's 400 tons of scrap metal next to the abandoned railway sidings. The work is about looking at these massive piles of metal as a momentary monument and comparing it to taking 9 pieces and putting them on plinths in a gallery setting.

One of the attendants pointed out this old bakery oven to me - put that on the list ...

In the gallery.

The next work was also a highlight - Susan Philipsz's sound piece reflecting the position of the station in history as a collection and departure point for Jews in 1941-42 to the concentration camps of Terezin and Auschwitz. The music is a disassembled version of a holocaust victim, Pavel Haas, Study for Strings, and is played out of 7 tannoys at the end of platforms 10 and 11. Very moving and thought provoking.

The Willie Doherty 20 minute film, Secretion 2012, about dying trees also references Kassel's role in the Holocaust but in a more abstract way.

Found the first of Susan Hiller's five jukeboxes around the exhibition - her selection of 100 protest songs. I put on a Frank Zappa track for old time's sake.

Took some time to find the children's library which had a popular piece of work by Matias Faldbakken - I just felt he should grow up - but that's probably just the reaction he was looking for ...

Some interesting kinetic pieces in another location by Thomas Bayrle.

Jukebox two found and Frank selected.

Song Dong's massive pile of rubbish planted with a wide selection of grasses and flowers - Doing Nothing Garden 2010-2012

Finished with a wave pond surrounded by wheat by Massimo Bartolini - titled Untitled (Wave) 1997-2012