Documenta/Biennale Detour
Documenta/Biennale Detour is a collaborative project between Levente Sulyok, Royce W. Smith and Seth Murchison.
Sulyok is a practicing artist and faculty member at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas (USA). Smith is also
faculty at Wichita State University, where he teaches modern and contemporary art history. Murchison is an artist
based in California whose practice engages the intersection between community development and politics.
The project is a cross between performance, happening, and art criticism, with audience participation at its core. Our
research centers on the relationship (or lack thereof) between large-scale exhibitions and the contexts in which they
are held. Documenta/Biennale Detour aims to investigate this dichotomy between the globalizing tendencies of
‘biennales’ and the local cultures in Kassel, Germany, and Bucharest, Romania. Interventions/performances will take
place in conjunction with Documenta XIII, and the Bucharest Biennale, between June 19 – July 19, 2012.
Biennials and other mega-exhibitions—global in scope and staged every two to five years in specific localities—allow
for varied audiences, include ultra-contemporary art works, and highlight specific cultural dynamics to demonstrate the
evolution of contemporary art. At their core, mega-exhibitions purportedly embrace dialogue—between artists,
between cultures, between viewers and between ideas. But where does such dialogue take place? How is such dialogue
documented or chronicled within a mega-exhibition’s proceedings? How do such dialogues alter the future trajectories
of existing biennial traditions and change their forms, structures, and contents? How does the local 'mesh' with the
imperatives of global thinking that biennials and mega-exhibitions encourage?
PROJECT COMPONENTS
• “Mobile Rest Station”: We will be present outside the above exhibition venues with a labeled white Transporter Van
(see logo above), and locally purchased chairs and tables forming the rest station. The station will be the center of
distribution, conversation, and a place for rest.
• “Detour Map”: We are gathering information via a questionnaire and blog. Residents of each city are asked to give
their opinion in response to a number of questions. Collected information will become the content of the map, which
will be distributed by us at the “Mobile Rest Station”. The map will offer glimpses of the art and culture of these cities
not generally available or offered to biennale visitors. (To participate, please visit: www.artbiennials.com)
• “Critical Essay”: The text, written by Royce W. Smith, will be printed as a label applied to (free) bottles of water, and
distributed along with the maps at the rest station. The back of each label will contain a list of artists not included in the
exhibitions, but considered important to each region. We will solicit feedback through the above blog to finalize the list
of artists.
• Supplementary Project: “Dialec•t•able”: We are also soliciting proposals for modification of the LACK Ikea side table
from local artists and designers. Two artists/designers will be commissioned to re-design the LACK side table, and the
Van will also serve as a place for the collection of these artifacts. The relationship between Ikea stores, a sure sign of
globalization, and each city is a further investigation of the relationship (or lack thereof) between globalizing tendencies
and local attitudes.
• Documenta UMLEITUNG (Germany) : intervention and performance between June 19 – June 26.
• Biennale OCOLIRE (Romania) : intervention and performance between July 12 – July 19.
Documenta/Biennale Detour is a collaborative project between Levente Sulyok, Royce W. Smith and Seth Murchison.
Sulyok is a practicing artist and faculty member at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas (USA). Smith is also
faculty at Wichita State University, where he teaches modern and contemporary art history. Murchison is an artist
based in California whose practice engages the intersection between community development and politics.
The project is a cross between performance, happening, and art criticism, with audience participation at its core. Our
research centers on the relationship (or lack thereof) between large-scale exhibitions and the contexts in which they
are held. Documenta/Biennale Detour aims to investigate this dichotomy between the globalizing tendencies of
‘biennales’ and the local cultures in Kassel, Germany, and Bucharest, Romania. Interventions/performances will take
place in conjunction with Documenta XIII, and the Bucharest Biennale, between June 19 – July 19, 2012.
Biennials and other mega-exhibitions—global in scope and staged every two to five years in specific localities—allow
for varied audiences, include ultra-contemporary art works, and highlight specific cultural dynamics to demonstrate the
evolution of contemporary art. At their core, mega-exhibitions purportedly embrace dialogue—between artists,
between cultures, between viewers and between ideas. But where does such dialogue take place? How is such dialogue
documented or chronicled within a mega-exhibition’s proceedings? How do such dialogues alter the future trajectories
of existing biennial traditions and change their forms, structures, and contents? How does the local 'mesh' with the
imperatives of global thinking that biennials and mega-exhibitions encourage?
PARTICIPANTS WANTED
“Detour Map”: As part of the Documenta/Biennale Detour project, we would like to solicit feedback on what the
residents of Kassel feel visitors to Documenta should see and experience while in town. Resulting maps will be
distributed to visitors at Documenta during the performance of this project.
The maps will highlight journeys external to each biennale, based on information gathered from a blog generated by the
residents of each metropolis. They will provide a portrait of each city according to those artists, artisans, and other
citizens who actually inhabit and ‘know’ it. Compared to tourist guidebooks, each map will be in depth, idiosyncratic
and nuanced—offering glimpses of the art world not generally available or offered to biennale visitors. Visitors will
have a chance to activate the map by participating in the ‘journey’ it proposes, and later leave comments about their
experiences on a blog that the map will also direct them to. This intervention does not aim to de-legitimize any of the
works that may be included in these exhibitions, or the value of their viewing by visitors. Its primary aim is to highlight
the ways in which these exhibitions may or may not dialogue with issues of local cultural concern, while serving as a
supplement to the often-homogenizing tendencies of mega-exhibitions.
We hope to gather information on independent art venues, street performances and installations, local restaurants, bars
and theatres. We are basically interested in any cultural venue or activity that would provide a fuller picture of Kassel
and its culture to visitors at Documenta. We encourage the planning of performances and other art-related activities
between June 19 – 26, and will gladly use the “Detour Map” as advertisement for such activities.
PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK HERE: www.artbiennials.com
• Documenta UMLEITUNG (Germany) : intervention and performance between June 19 – June 26.
• Biennale OCOLIRE (Romania) : intervention and performance between July 12 – July 19.
Documenta/Biennale Detour is a collaborative project between Levente Sulyok, Royce W. Smith and Seth Murchison.
Sulyok is a practicing artist and faculty member at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas (USA). Smith is also
faculty at Wichita State University, where he teaches modern and contemporary art history. Murchison is an artist
based in California whose practice engages the intersection between community development and politics.
The project is a cross between performance, happening, and art criticism, with audience participation at its core. Our
research centers on the relationship (or lack thereof) between large-scale exhibitions and the contexts in which they
are held. Documenta/Biennale Detour aims to investigate this dichotomy between the globalizing tendencies of
‘biennales’ and the local cultures in Kassel, Germany, and Bucharest, Romania. Interventions/performances will take
place in conjunction with Documenta XIII, and the Bucharest Biennale, between June 19 – July 19, 2012.
Biennials and other mega-exhibitions—global in scope and staged every two to five years in specific localities—allow
for varied audiences, include ultra-contemporary art works, and highlight specific cultural dynamics to demonstrate the
evolution of contemporary art. At their core, mega-exhibitions purportedly embrace dialogue—between artists,
between cultures, between viewers and between ideas. But where does such dialogue take place? How is such dialogue
documented or chronicled within a mega-exhibition’s proceedings? How do such dialogues alter the future trajectories
of existing biennial traditions and change their forms, structures, and contents? How does the local 'mesh' with the
imperatives of global thinking that biennials and mega-exhibitions encourage?
ARTISTS/DESIGNERS WANTED
“Dialec•t•able”: As part of the Documenta/Biennale Detour project, we would like to solicit proposals for
modification of the LACK Ikea side table from local artists and designers. Two artists/designers will be commissioned to
re-design the LACK table, which can be purchased at any Ikea store for 4.99EUR (prices may vary depending on color
and finish).
The relationship between Ikea stores and each city is a further material investigation of the relationship (or lack
thereof) between globalizing tendencies and local attitudes. We seek plans and designs to customize the LACK Ikea side
table to reflect the specific tastes, sensibilities and idiosyncrasies of regional and national identities. We are interested in
creative solutions that would alter the form, design, or concept of this mass-produced object. Ikea, the Swedish furniture
giant, is the largest furniture distributor on the planet that is now present in almost all major metropolises around the
globe. We see a similarity between how mega-exhibitions democratize and package contemporary culture for the
‘globalized culture lover’, and Ikea’s democratization of ‘good design’ and ‘modern taste’ through mass-market
consumer products. As a result, this element of the project will aid in highlighting similarities between the
homogenizing tendencies of global capital and the contemporary biennale. It will serve as material manifestation of the
dialogue that Documenta/Biennale Detour hopes to generate. NOTE: Submissions should be sent by May 25th.
PLEASE SEND PLANS AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION TO: leventesulyok@yahoo.com BY MAY 25th.
COMMISSION: a 150EUR purchase award will support the production of each winning proposal.
• Documenta UMLEITUNG (Germany) : intervention and performance between June 19 – June 26.
• Biennale OCOLIRE (Romania) : intervention and performance between July 12 – July 19.