Page 119 - ARTE!Brasileiros #37

Jochen Volz, the Curator of the 32 Biennial International of mentioned that in the recent European crisis “the continent
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São Paulo, also talked about the role of Art in the 21st century: was divided between north and south. In this friction, Greece
“In recent years, we can’t escape the feeling of uncertainty. and other countries were given a negative stereotype, the so
We live in a time marked by demonstrations of xenophobia; an called south.” It is in this context that the magazine South
alarming climate change; and a political, social and economic as a State of Mind has emerged. The magazine is today the
instability. Therefore, we wanted to create a Biennial that truly platform of Documenta 14 and proposes a distinctive outlook
involved cultural pluralism, where there was no room for the to the current hegemonic attitude.
idea of exclusion”, He also mentioned the Brazilian political
moment: “By taking office as President of Brazil, Michel Temer 1 | LEFT TO RIGHT: MUNTREF CURATOR DIANE WECHSLER; ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FOR
proposed that he would put an end to uncertainty. That’s very DOCUMENTA 14 MARINA FOKIDIS; ART CRITIC FABIO CYPRIANO; AND CURATOR CAROLYN
pretentious. So, it’s very good that we have gathered here to CHRISTOV-BAKARGIEV
talk about uncertainty “.
The psychoanalyst Christian Dunker also questioned the 2 | LEFT TO RIGHT, 32 SÃO PAULO ART BIENNIAL CURATOR JOCHEN VOLZ; ARTIST
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concept of reality: “ To put reality under suspicion is a typical ALFREDO JAAR; ARTE!Brasileiros PUBLISHING DIRECTOR PATRICIA ROUSSEAUX; AND
condition of our contemporary experience: To suspect that PSYCHOANALYST CHRISTIAN DUNKER AND TANIA RIVERA. NEXT PAGE, MALBA ARTISTIC
the reality that unfolds before our eyes is not what or how DIRECTOR AGUSTÍN PÉREZ RUBIO
it looks like.” According to Dunker, the feeling that there is
something wrong with reality causes suffering, a mental state
address by Art and also by the psychoanalysis: “Both the SÃO PAULO BIENNIAL REPORT | PAGES 32 TO 35
artistic production and psychoanalysis have a common task
And one of the historic functions of Art is to give voice to the MANY QUESTIONS,
- responding to suffering, this universal human experience.
uneasiness, to offer alternative resources to our experience
of discomfort with our time.” FEW ANSWERS
In the same line, Tania Rivera, also a psychoanalyst, addressed
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the concept of uncertainty itself: “Do we really need certainties? 32 SÃO PAULO ART BIENNIAL HITS ATTENDANCE RECORD AND
Certainties can’t heal - I believe that, instead of that, they RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, ITS
usually make us ill. I do not believe in the illusion that having
a strong position in the world is itself a guarantee of welfare. SUPPOSED HERMETICISM, THE NEED FOR EXPERIMENTATION AND
On the contrary, our most intimate and social symptoms are THE POLITICAL ROLE OF THE SHOW
full of certainties.”
BY MARCOS GRINSPUM FERRAZ
OTHER PERSPECTIVES
The connection between Art and other fields of knowledge WHILE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE WORK do Pó ao Pó
was discussed in the second part of the Seminar. In his (From Dust to Dust), by Bahia-based artist José Bento, art piece
speech, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, curator responsible assembled with matchboxes and retractable tables made of
for the Documenta 13, mentioned the exhibition Intention to different kinds of wood, a ten-year old boy says to a friend:
Know, which she organized at the Stony Island Arts Bank, in “C’mon, even I can make that at home”. His friend replies, “Oh,
Chicago. The exhibition was a tribute to the British activist so you think it’s that easy? Just think how much work it takes
Annie Besant, who developed theories about Teosofia, a to think and create that!” Soon after that, some women quietly
doctrine that condenses philosophical, religious and scientific approach the work. They stop before it, read the description tag
elements. It is exactly the union of these several knowledges below and briefly say something about deforestation. Nearby,
that the curator focus on her exhibitions. Bringing up the in the space dedicated to Portuguese artist Carla Filipe - a
philosopher Theodor Adorno, Bakargiev argued that art garden of unconventional food plants - a teacher asks a group
categories “can be very oppressive, but fortunately, things are of students: “Is this art?”, to which most students shout out
gradually changing, and shows and exhibitions are becoming yes and some say no. The ladies who stopped by Jose Bento’s
more unrestrained, breaking these paradigms.” work have now arrived at Filipe’s garden. One of them says:
The reorganization of the museums was also a topic discussed “How beautiful these plants are!”
by the artistic director of the MALBA, Agustín Pérez Rubio. To It’s Tuesday morning and the pavilion of the Biennial is crowded
him, museums must question the linear vision of the historical with students of all ages - children and adolescents - and other
time. «We need to think from different rationales, a single kinds of public. Many glance through works and take pictures
moment can be marked by multiple temporalities.» He also with their cell phones; a group of women take a guided tour
reinforced the importance for the institutions to adhere to and participate in a debate about the concept of this Biennial;
different narratives originated from marginalized groups such young kids run around amid the works on display; some visitors
as Indians, women, Afro-Americans and homosexuals. look uninterested while others take time to slowly contemplate
The presence of non-hegemonic perspectives was also each art work. To measure the exact level of satisfaction of
emphasized by Marina Fokidis, artistic director of Documenta the audience in this show would be impossible - or maybe
14, and by the art historian Diana Wechsler. Wechsler lectured doable through some effective satisfaction survey. However,
about the challenges of the Biennial Sur, an event whose goal maybe this is not what a Biennial is about (read article by Fabio
is to promote a dialogue between some world distinguished Cypriano on page 40) - “A Biennial is not an amusement park”,
artists and their peers in South America. Fokidis, on the says a participating artist.
other hand, lectured about the global South, a concept that In any case, the attendance record of the 32 São Paulo Biennial
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permeates the Documenta 14. According to the curator, it seems to prove that this edition, open now until December
is not a concept restricted to a geographic territory, it is a 11, has filled the eyes of the public. In less than two months
“state of mind that evolves into undefined paths.” Fokidis (September and part of October) 500,000 people attended the

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