Dokumenta - Ein Kustausstellung in Kassel

I have been in Kassel for approximately a week and a half and as previously mentioned, it was so easy and comfortable to slip back into the life I had here.  I ride a bike all over the city, I eat in the University cafeteria, and I sometimes sleep on the Svenson's couch- just like old times.  But things are different here too, and I'm still surprised every day.

The biggest difference is that the city of Kassel is currently hosting Dokumenta, a contemporary art exhibit that occurs every five years and lasts for 100 days.  I was actually in Germany for the last Dokumenta, in 2007, and I wasn't very far away.  I had been studying in Marburg for the summer and after my program finished I came to Kassel for a few days.  (That's when I first met the Svensons, thus beginning the chain of events that has me where I am now.)  To to best of my memory, I visited in August which means that Dokumenta was still going on, but I didn't see a thing.  I knew it was happening, but at the time it seemed pretty inconsequential.  Fast forward four and a half years to February 2012 when I was leaving Kassel just a few months before Dokumenta was beginning again.  This time it felt the opposite of inconsequential. I was irritated that I had lived in Kassel for three years when it was boring, and I was leaving just before it became the most exciting city in Germany (patent pending)!

It was pretty lucky for me to be able to come back to Germany at this time, and extremely lucky that I could spend two weeks in Kassel.  Because I know the city and I'm more aware of what Dokumenta is all about, I've been able to explore a lot during my days here, even without devoting my full time and energy to it.  One aspect of Dokumenta, and maybe contemporary art in general, is that it isn't confined to an art gallery.  The installations can be found anywhere and everywhere- in the streets, in the department stores, on the buses and in parking garages.  You can stumble upon a Dokumenta piece at any time if you are paying attention.  And what makes Dokumenta and Kassel so special is that many of the installations aren't able to be removed, or aren't desired to be removed.  There are many pieces that become a permanent part of the city, and in fact after each Dokumenta, the people of Kassel vote on one installation that they want the city to buy and keep.  This means that you find Dokumenta art throughout the city all the time, not just during the exhibition.

One of my favorite pieces that is now an irreversible part of Kassel is called 7,000 Eichen (7,000 Oaks).  In 1982, for Dokumenta 7, Joseph Beuys began planting 7,000 Oak trees all over the city of Kassel.  Each tree was paired with a large, column like stone, about three feet tall.  The project was a huge undertaking as you can imagine, and in fact it wasn't completed until Dokumenta 8 in 1987.  The first tree to be planted and the last tree to be planted are right next to each other, and in 1987 the size difference was very obvious.  So if you are walking through Kassel, and you see a three foot tall stone next to an Oak tree, then you know you are in the presence of art.  I like this about Kassel, that there is art hiding in plain sight.

The first and last trees planted. 

Of course, there is also art hiding in hidden places too, which I learned today.  After spending the morning in one of the larger Dokumenta museums, I was sitting by the Rathaus (City Hall), browsing through the Dokumenta guide book and planning my next moves.  I saw on the map that there was a piece called the Aschrott Fountain right in front of the Rathaus, but I didn't remember ever seeing anything.  I read in the guide that the artist who created the piece, Horst Hoheisel, would be giving a talk on 11 September at 14:00.  I looked at my watch and it was 13:55, so I went over to investigate.  I am so very glad that I did, because what I learned might be the coolest hidden piece of art in Kassel.

In 1908, a fountain was built in front of the Kassel Rathaus, comissioned by a man named Sigmund Aschrott as a gift to the city of Kassel.  The fountain was 12 meters high, and looked like this:

Aschrott was a jew, so in 1939, before Adolf Hitler came to Kassel to make a speech, the fountain was destroyed.  Eventually, people forgot that the fountain had any connection to Herr Aschrott, and in the 1960s the space was filled with a flower bed.  Hoheisel told us that there is a saying in Germany, not to trust any flower beds in a city.  If there's a flower bed, that probably means that there was once a monument, fountain or building that had some significance for jews.  In the 1980s, a group wanted to restore the memory of the Aschrott fountain by building another one.  Plans were never finalized, and so in 1987, for Dokumenta 8, our hero Herr Hoheisel presented his plans for a fountain to commemorate the Aschrott fountain.  Hoheisel constructed a structure that looked exactly like the original fountain, with one 12 meter high peak in the center, and four smaller ones surrounding it, and then turned it upside down, burying the peak 12 meters underground.  To the casual observer, there are simply some grates in front of the Rathaus, possibly for rainwater drainage.

This "negative-space", underground fountain is a memorial to the fountain that was lost in 1939, and a memorial to what that loss represents.  When Hoheisel was building the fountain, he started getting harassed by neo-nazi groups, and even received death threats.  Eventually, the group sent him a letter on April 20, (Hitler's birthday) saying that they were calling that an "amnesty day" and they would stop bothering him.  This was likely because a group of neo-nazis holding a rally on the spot where the fountain was had been photographed and some of them were facing harassment.  Hoheisel also ran into some problems with some sewer lines under the plaza, meaning he literally ran into them.  The city told him to just chop the top off of the fountain, because no one would see it, so who cares?  Hoheisel didn't want to do this because a) that defeats the point of this memorial, and b) the structure is actually hanging in a way, and could be lifted out of the ground and placed upright.  Many people have asked him when he would do this, and he said that at this point, with the existence of neo-nazis and other hateful groups in Germany, he won't do it.  When there is no more hatred, maybe then the fountain can be righted.

So, there is your historical art lesson for the day.  Kasselarians: remember to look closely at everything you see in your city, because it might be hidden art.

Reflections on the past, present and future

Hello friends.

As you probably realize, I haven’t been so good about updating this blog on a regular basis, and I think the reason for that is because for three years or so, I have used this space as a way to record just about every event, travel or happening in my life.  This can get overwhelming and it sometimes feels like a bit of a chore.  I’ve decided that I don’t need to feel so much pressure to record everything, and it’s ok if I don’t update this blog after every interesting moment.  Instead, I’m going to write whenever possible, and I’ll include any exciting happenings, but I don’t want this to read like a “what I did on my summer vacation” essay.  Because this isn’t a vacation; I am living in strange places, but my life is boring and routine just like anyone else’s.  I’ve been extremely fortunate to travel quite a bit in the past year or so, but that isn’t all I do.  I just don’t write about the boring bits.  So instead, I’m going to write what I’m thinking or feeling, usually in the context of what has been going on in my life. 

So, let's start there.  Currently, I'm sitting in Kassel, Germany after having spent the day with the Svensons.  I realize this sounds as if an old blog post has been pasted into a new post, but I promise it's not.  I'm in Europe for a business/pleasure visit and I really am thrilled to be here.  I began in Berlin, and then took the train to Kassel this past Friday.  

I was in Berlin for a conference to wrap up the research project I had been working on for the past two years in Kassel, and this alone has made me sentimental.  In these years of working on a European research project, I have been very lucky to meet colleagues from all parts of the world, visit many conferences and workshops in exciting cities, and make very meaningful friendships.  I also learned a fair bit about research, but this is not what makes me sentimental.  For the last time, my project colleagues and I sat in a room together to discuss higher education research in Europe.  It’s not the last time for many of them, but I have removed myself from this arena, and the withdrawal is difficult.  When I reflect on my professional network, I see that it is almost entirely located in Europe, while I am not.  This is not a sustainable situation.  As I begin to create a network in South America, as I hope I will, my European network will wane.  I will stay in touch with a select few of course, but I will not be a part of European higher education research.  Considering I’m not sure if I have the passion for research anyway, this may not be a bad thing, but I am still a bit sad that I’m not part of a European anything anymore. 

Don’t misunderstand, I love Chile, and being in Santiago is exciting and new and I enjoy it immensely.  But it’s still new, and I haven’t created a life just yet.  I will of course, and in three years you may be reading a wistful blog post about my departure from a life in South America.  The point though, is that for a few weeks, being back in Germany, a country I love and respect, somehow manages to make me homesick for the very place I’m sitting.  I drank a Milchkaffee in the Frankfurt train station, and the smell and taste brought back memories of a happy life.  I had a similar reaction when I had my first sip of Hefeweizen beer.  The language has come back to me much faster than I expected, (although this makes me fret about losing any feeble Spanish skills I might have) and it’s challenging my previously held belief that I suck at learning languages.  Overall I have a torn feeling, because I instantly feel comfortable and at ease in Germany, but I feel guilty for leaving Santiago.  Clearly I am overthinking things here, but these are all symptoms of my continuous search for home. 

Speaking of “home”, one locale I haven’t yet mentioned is the US.  I have a complicated relationship with the US, and every time I return I feel conflicted all over again.  On the one hand, my family and so many good friends are in the US, I understand how the country and culture work, I speak the language, and there are places and people that make me extremely happy.  Despite tension over immigration issues, Americans are still more accepting and welcoming to foreigners than many other countries I’ve visited.  The culture is rich and diverse, and there are so many beautiful cities and towns and national parks.  People in the US are innovative and optimistic, and genuinely friendly.  The US is a great country, no doubt, but it isn’t the only great country (the Republicans are going to hang me for saying that).  The US is extremely divided, with a toxic political discourse that makes me ill, and economically is headed backwards and seems unable to adjust to new global economic situations.  Socially, the country is also regressing and manages to be the only developed nation that doesn’t believe that every human being deserves a chance to succeed.  There is no salient energy policy, and people somehow blame the government for gas prices that are already artificially low.  There is hardly a mass transportation system, and it’s close to impossible to survive without a car.  And to top it off, there have been three mass shootings in the past three months, and the response of many is that we need more guns.  It’s a fact that those living in the US are four times more likely to be murdered than those in the United Kingdom, six times more likely than in Germans and 13 times more likely than those in Japan.  I know the odds are still in my favor, but do I want to raise my children in a country that bans a shot of a topless woman but glorifies violent slayings in the average TV show?

I’m overly critical of the US because it is my country; it’s where I come from and I feel a sense of responsibility.  And because it was home for so long, it tugs at my heart strings whenever I visit.  The US hasn’t been my home since 2009.  It’s hard to say this, but I visit, and I love it, but I’m not sure if it’s home anymore.  It might be in the future, but I’m genuinely frustrated with the situation and I’m not sure if the US is the place I agree with.  This is painful, because my family is there and a major piece of feeling at home is family.  But I’ve created family in Germany and in Chile too, so no matter where I live I will always be missing something.  This will always be true, no matter what, and I suppose the best option I have is to find the place where I feel the most at peace.

I realize this all sounds very fatalistic and depressing, and I don’t mean it to be that way.  I know that I’m so, so lucky to have had the opportunities that I have, and the fact that there are three continents that make me feel at home is very fortunate.  I guess I’m just feeling reflective upon a return to Germany, and I have an overall feeling of agitation because I’m no longer actively working towards any goal.  I don’t have a day to day job, and while I have jobs and tasks to fill my day, I don’t feel a driving sense of purpose.  (I also don’t feel much of a cash flow, which also dampens my mood.)  This is all part of finding my footing in Chile, and I’m confident and optimistic about my options.  It will take time for sure, but patience has never been one of my strongest attributes. 

Things will work out, I’m confident of that, but I have to remind myself that I need to make myself happy in the present, and not wish for the past or fret over the future.  If I can’t find a sense of contentment today, what’s to say that I will find it after I’ve completed x, y and z?

I want to end this post on an upbeat note, because that really is how I feel.  I’m in for Kassel spending time with some of my favorite people, and I have a month in the US to look forward to afterwards.  I’ll say it again: I’m very lucky and I know this.  Most people don’t have the luxury of being able to work from anywhere, and having a combination of funding sources that allows this kind of trip is extremely fortunate. 

So with that, I’ll leave you with a promise to write more often, share more pictures, and I'll try to be less melodramatic.