documenta | Fotoeins Fotografie

Die Ankunft der Fremden, Thomas Schütte, documenta, SinnLeffers, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday in Kassel: the strangers

Thomas Schütte created “Die Ankunft der Fremden” (The arrival of strangers) for the ‘documenta 9’ art festival in 1992. On the top of the portico of the former Red Palace stand three figures surrounded by some sort of luggage and belongings. The figures appear worried and alienated, looking down at everyday activity in which they cannot take part. This sculpture provides an avenue for social and political commentary about the plight of refugees and migration around the world.

I made the photo above on 3 Oct 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark1 and the following settings: 1/500-sec, f/8, ISO2000, and 88mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-kGH.

Das Fremdlinge und Flüchtlinge Monument, Olu Oguibe, documenta, Königsplatz, obelisk, Florentiner Platz, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday in Kassel: monument to foreigners & refugees

Nigerian-American artist Olu Oguibe created the 16-metre high obelisk “Monument to Foreigners and Refugees” (Das Fremdlinge und Flüchtlinge Monument) for Kassel’s documenta 14 in 2017. On four sides is the inscription of a single sentence in Arabic, English, German, and Turkish, respectively:

.كنتُ غريبًا فآويتموني
I was a stranger and you took me in.
Ich war ein Fremdling und Ihr habt mich beherbergt.
Yabanciydim beni konuk ettiniz.

The line is directly from the Bible’s New Testament: the gospel of Matthew chapter 25 verse 35.

Initially placed at Königsplatz, the obelisk was dismantled after conservatives and the far-right complained about their comfort level with what little human capacity they had remaining. Fortunately, common sense prevailed: the city purchased the sculpture, and reinstallation took place in April 2019 at Treppenstrasse/Florentiner Platz (ArtNews | Frieze | HNA, Deutsch).

I made the photo above on 3 Oct 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark1 and the following settings: 1/160-sec, f/16, ISO2000, 28mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-kGA.

Man Walking to the Sky, Jonathan Borofsky, documenta 9, Kassel Hauptbahnhof, documenta, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday in Kassel: up into the sky

At the plaza in front of Kassel’s Hauptbahnhof train station is “Man Walking to the Sky” by Jonathan Borofsky. Originally constructed for “documenta 9” in 1992 and installed in front of Museum Fridericianum at Friedrichsplatz, the sculpture was moved to the front of the Hauptbahnhof in 1995. The sculpture consists of a steel rod or pipe 25 metres in height and inclined at an angle of over 60 degrees; the lonely figure is a painted piece of fibreglass. While the figure walks precariously up the steep slope, the sculpture is undeniably one of hope, of an attempt to reach a goal much higher than is deemed humanly possible.

I made the photo above on 4 Oct 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark1 and the following settings: 1/800-sec, f/8, ISO2000, and 24mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-kGm.

Joseph Beuys, 7000. Eichen, 7000 Oak Trees, documenta, Friedrichsplatz, Staatstheater, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday in Kassel: 7000 oak trees

Above/featured: next to the Staatstheater at Friedrichsplatz.

As an example of what he called “social sculpture”, German artist Joseph Beuys presented his “7000. Eichen” (7000 oak trees) project at the contemporary art exhibition “documenta 7” in Kassel in 1982. He declared “Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung,” which is a play on German words and translates to “urban forestation, instead of urban administration.” He wanted to plant throughout the city 7000 new oak trees, each accompanied by a small pillar of basalt rock. With the trees representing the world and stones symbolizing civilization, Beuys expressed the idea that society could only exist or thrive by living in harmony with the natural world. The project initially encountered skepticism and hostility among the city’s citizens. But all 7000 were eventually planted and installed, effectively turning the entire city into a work of sculptural art and charging the city’s populace with the collective responsibility as the art’s caretakers.

Various exhibitions throughout Germany are marking Beuys’ 100th birthday (12 May) throughout the 2021 year.

Beuys’ artistic and historical legacy: 26-minutes in English, DW Arts.21, 8 May 2021.

Joseph Beuys, 7000. Eichen, 7000 Oak Trees, documenta, Friedrichsplatz, Kassel, Hesse, Hessen, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

(“Onkel Beuys befiehlt Ihnen!”) Information display at Friedrichsplatz with, perhaps, an homage to the American WW2 poster “Uncle Sam wants you!”

I made the two photos above on 1 and 3 Oct 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark1. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-kGi.