Jariya Phongsai
Class: HUN195.6046
Date: 05/11/09
Assignment: Review on Moma
“Martin Kippenberger’s Amerika”
The museum of modern art is known as MoMa which is located in midtown,
New York presents the exhibitions and the collections of modern and contemporary
arts. All of the compositions are interesting and outstanding. The museum helps
people to understand and enjoy the art of our time. Personally, I am interested in the
work of Martin Kippenberger titled “Amerika”. Kippenberger’s message in this work
deals with the idea of what those that are seeking jobs in an opportunistic society
might be facing. In Franz Kafka’s unfinshed novel “Amerika” , the hero is applying
for a job at a recuruitment center for the theater of Oklahoma which is a grand
opportunities. This is where Kippenberger takes this scenario for his idea. He gives us
interviewers who are trying to find out what jobs the people applying might be most
suitable for. We see many tables set up with different situations and two chairs across
from each other (one for the interviewer and one for the interviewee). He has also set
the tables and chairs on a green floor illustrating a playing field of competetion. On
this field of competition, there are the winners and the losers.Those who seek and
those who have. The objects at the each table draw no line on what can be concidered
art and what is not. This is where his provocative prospective comes into focus.
Nothing was out-of-bounds for Martin Kipenberger to think of as a potential
piece of work. His interest in vast subjects might include any types of people, places
or things. Kippenberger had no restrictions on what he thought art should be limited
to. His works in no way conformed to the norm. Kippenberger’s “Amerika” gives us a
stage to look upon where we can see the great opportunities avialable to people
seeking potential jobs that have gained their interests. We can also see that although
there are these wonderful opportunities, they do not come without a cost. Upon this
stage that he has set for us, we can also see that there is a price of high competition
between the interviewees. The many interviewing tables illustrates to us that the
interviewer is trying to find out what job is best suited for each of the interviewees.
As for myself, I found his works to be provacative and extremly interesting. It
was Kippenberger’s ambition not to follow what might be considered as an important
art. I find that daring. And I am absulutely sure that I will be looking into finding out
more about some of his other works. I am amazed that he completed so much in so
little time. Moreover, the museum of modern art serves encouragement of a deeper
understanding and enjoyment of the modern and contemporary art to audiences.