top of page

Contemporary Art Context

Documenta 12, Kassel, Germany

Screen Shot 2017-03-16 at 5.33.13 PM
Screen Shot 2017-03-16 at 5.32.51 PM
Screen Shot 2017-03-16 at 5.33.00 PM
Screen Shot 2017-03-16 at 5.32.36 PM
Screen Shot 2017-03-16 at 5.32.24 PM

For many people Documenta is very, very serious. So I decided to bring some Frank Fu style humor. I walked around the exhibition areas. Suddenly I would ring my bell, and then shout out “Contemporary Art Context!”, a random number of times, each time followed by whatever was on mind e.g. “Contemporary Art Context, number 56, What the hell is going on!” or “Contemporary Art Context, number 1, Art plus politics equals power!” or “Contemporary Art Context, number 26, Hi Zebra!”. Sometimes I said things to empty space; sometimes I said things to museum attendants; sometimes I said things to art works; sometimes I said things to audiences. The things I said may not have made any immediate sense, but all this remains like a floating energy, it’s there. Also: the things I said may have been nonsense and meaninglessness, but non-sense gathers sense, and non-sense is the ground of having sense.

bottom of page