卡塞爾文獻展的絕唱：《Exergue》記錄了一個時代的衰落

在 Dimitris Athiridis 的 14 小時紀錄片《Exergue》中，Adam Szymczyk 和他的策展團隊在全球危機中為 2017 年卡塞爾文獻展做準備。這部電影批評了該機構的龐大規模和發行而非策展的精神。儘管希姆奇克具有超凡的領導力並收錄了非凡的藝術作品，但 2022 年第 15 屆卡塞爾文獻展還是暴露了該組織的脆弱性，最終導致其消亡。 《Exergue》是對希姆奇克這一代的性格研究，揭示了藝術世界與社會動盪作鬥爭的悖論，似乎總是處於崩潰的邊緣。

The Documenta's Final Chapter: 'Exergue' Documents the End of an Era

卡塞爾文獻展的最後一章：「Exergue」記錄了一個時代的終結

As the 14-hour-long documentary "Exergue," chronicling the making of the 2017 Documenta, unfolds, its narrator, Paul B. Preciado, declares: "This Documenta will be unlike any other... It will be the last one... A Documenta for the end times."

隨著記錄2017 年文獻展製作過程的14 小時紀錄片《Exergue》展開，其旁白保羅·B·普雷西亞多(Paul B. Preciado) 宣稱：「本屆文獻展將不同於任何其他文獻展…這將是最後一屆文獻展。 .. 一場關於末日的文獻展。”

Dimitris Athiridis's film, premiered at the Berlinale, is an uncanny reminder of a time not so long ago when the world seemed on the brink of collapse, albeit in a different way than today. Spanning four years, Athiridis captured 800 hours of footage, following artistic director Adam Szymczyk and his curatorial team as they pieced together "Learning from Athens," an exhibition that took place both in Kassel, Germany, and in Athens, Greece.

迪米特里斯·阿蒂里迪斯 (Dimitris Athiridis) 的電影在柏林電影節首映，不可思議地讓人回想起不久前的那個時代，當時世界似乎處於崩潰的邊緣，儘管方式與今天不同。在藝術總監 Adam Szymczyk 和他的策展團隊的帶領下，Athiridis 歷時四年拍攝了 800 小時的鏡頭，將在德國卡塞爾和希臘雅典舉辦的展覽「向雅典學習」拼湊在一起。

"Exergue" offers a glimpse into an art world grappling with the constant presence of impending doom. As the curators navigate crises, including gunshots in Beirut, arson attacks by alt-right groups, and the Paris terrorist attacks, Szymczyk's voiceover reflects: "We have to be more radical, like never before."

《Exergue》讓我們得以一窺藝術世界如何面對持續存在的即將到來的厄運。當策展人在應對危機時，包括貝魯特的槍擊事件、另類右翼團體的縱火襲擊以及巴黎的恐怖襲擊，希姆奇克的畫外音反映出：“我們必須比以往更加激進。”

Despite the ongoing turmoil, the party Szymczyk refers to continues to end and resume. It's the same party that ended with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, only to return in turbo mode with pop-up art events in Seoul, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. It's a party that's so grotesque that it must constantly end for us to bear its existence.

儘管騷亂仍在繼續，希姆奇克所指的政黨仍在繼續結束和恢復。這個派對在 2020 年因新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 大流行而結束，但又以渦輪模式回歸，在首爾、香港和洛杉磯舉辦了快閃藝術活動。這是一個如此怪誕的政黨，它必須不斷地結束，讓我們忍受它的存在。

The premiere of "Exergue" comes at a time when the renowned Documenta organization appears to be in its final throes, following the controversies surrounding its fifteenth edition. The 2022 exhibition, curated by ruangrupa, included anti-Semitic imagery that sparked outrage in Germany, while the appointment of the director for Documenta 16 was marred by accusations of anti-Semitism.

《Exergue》首映之際，這個著名的文獻展組織在圍繞第十五屆文獻展引發爭議之後，似乎正處於最後的陣痛之中。 2022 年的展覽由魯昂魯帕 (ruangrupa) 策劃，其中包含的反猶太圖像在德國引發了憤怒，而第 16 屆卡塞爾文獻展主任的任命也因反猶太主義的指控而受到損害。

In an open letter, Ranjit Hoskotés, a member of the finding committee, resigned, citing the organization's unwillingness to engage in a nuanced discussion about anti-Semitism and its restrictions on empathy. He lamented the loss of moral compass within the institution.

在一封公開信中，調查委員會成員蘭吉特·霍斯科特斯辭職，理由是該組織不願就反猶太主義及其對同理心的限制進行細緻入微的討論。他對機構內部道德準則的喪失感到遺憾。

In the same month, "Artforum" dismissed its editor-in-chief, and key members of the editorial staff staged a walkout, signaling a wave of upheaval within modernist institutions. It seemed that the party might finally be over, not due to #MeToo, austerity measures, or the pandemic, but rather due to a strange and deliberate mobilization of guilt under the shadow of real political violence.

同月，《藝術論壇》解雇了主編，編輯部主要成員舉行罷工，標誌著現代主義機構內部掀起了一波劇變。這場派對似乎最終可能會結束，不是因為#MeToo、緊縮措施或大流行病，而是因為在真正的政治暴力的陰影下，一種奇怪的、故意的罪惡感動員。

Throughout its 14-hour runtime, "Exergue" becomes an intimate character study of Szymczyk and his generation. The Polish curator, with his lanky frame and distinctive style, embodies the zeitgeist of the 2000s. He is a dreamer, a fantast, and perhaps the director of the last Documenta.

在整個 14 小時的播放過程中，《Exergue》成為了對希姆奇克及其這一代人的深入人物研究。這位波蘭策展人身材瘦長，風格獨特，體現了 2000 年代的時代精神。他是個夢想家，一個幻想家，也許還是上一屆文展的導演。

The film reveals a cohort of creative minds whose powerlessness in the face of practicalities is contrasted with their brilliance in projection. Szymczyk's charm captivates the viewer, even as the documentary's sheer length becomes a test of patience.

這部電影揭示了一群富有創造力的人，他們在現實面前的無力感與他們在投影方面的才華形成鮮明對比。希姆奇克的魅力吸引了觀眾，儘管這部紀錄片的長度對耐心來說是一個考驗。

"Exergue" deftly captures the "pot-ness" that Szymczyk both acknowledges and denies. Documenta 14's primary flaw was its excessive size, both financially and artistically. Szymczyk's insistence on broadening the exhibition's identity matrix, distributing funds to as many artists as possible, reveals the ethos of this curatorial team, who see "curating" as a form of economic redistribution.

《Exergue》巧妙地捕捉了希姆奇克既承認又否認的「罐性」。第 14 屆卡塞爾文獻展的主要缺陷是其在財務和藝術方面的規模過大。希姆奇克堅持擴大展覽的身份矩陣，將資金分配給盡可能多的藝術家，這揭示了這個策展團隊的精神，他們將「策展」視為經濟再分配的一種形式。

This curatorial approach has since become a recipe for major exhibitions, including the upcoming Venice Biennale, which features over 300 artists, primarily from the Global South. Szymczyk dubs it "global shopping," noting that while his own Documenta edition would do "the same, but more," it would also encompass realism in the vein of Gustave Courbet's socialist realism.

此後，這種策展方法已成為大型展覽的秘訣，其中包括即將舉辦的威尼斯雙年展，將展出 300 多名藝術家，其中主要來自南半球國家。希姆奇克稱之為“全球購物”，並指出，雖然他自己的文獻展版本將做“相同的事情，但更多”，但它也將包含古斯塔夫·庫爾貝的社會主義現實主義脈絡中的寫實主義。

As the budgetary issues become insurmountable, Szymczyk organizes a meeting at the "Währungskonklave," where the German currency was reconstituted in 1948. The revelation of "money" as an arbitrary construct offers a provisional solution to their problems, a move that combines intellectual ambition with practical absurdity.

隨著預算問題變得難以克服，希姆奇克在「Währungskonklave」組織了一次會議，德國貨幣於1948 年在這裡重新組建。「金錢」作為任意概念的揭示為他們的問題提供了一個臨時解決方案，這項措施結合了智力野心具有實際的荒謬性。

Preciado's quip about "the last Documenta" echoes less like a grim prediction than a statement of intent. Documenta 14 almost succeeded in its accelerationist plot to dismantle modernism and capitalism, if only the art hadn't been as good as it was.

普雷西亞多關於「最後一次文獻展」的俏皮話與其說是一個嚴峻的預測，不如說是一種意圖的陳述。第十四屆卡塞爾文獻展幾乎成功實現了其瓦解現代主義和資本主義的加速主義陰謀，但藝術沒有那麼好。

For as Daniel Birnbaum remarked in "Artforum," amidst the allegory and auto-ethnography, there was a "show-within-a-show," a trove of compelling and insightful works. Seven years on, indelible memories remain: Alina Szapownikow's collaboration with Lorenza Böttner, Stanley Whitney's color fields, Vivian Suter's installation in the Acropolis Park, and Jonas Mekas's projections in the train station.

正如丹尼爾·伯恩鮑姆（Daniel Birnbaum）在《藝術論壇》中所說，在寓言和自我民族誌中，存在著一場“秀中秀”，這是一系列引人入勝且富有洞察力的作品。七年過去了，不可磨滅的記憶依然存在：Alina Szapownikow 與 Lorenza Böttner 的合作、Stanley Whitney 的色域、Vivian Suter 在衛城公園的裝置以及 Jonas Mekas 在火車站的投影。

The artists featured in Documenta 14 have since become fixtures across the European institutional landscape, and the issues raised by Preciado continue to resonate. While no one could have anticipated it at the time, Documenta 14 left an indelible mark, its impact persisting long after its conclusion.

第 14 屆卡塞爾文獻展中的藝術家已成為歐洲機構景觀中的固定人物，普雷西亞多提出的問題繼續引起共鳴。儘管當時沒有人預料到，第十四屆卡塞爾文獻展留下了不可磨滅的印記，其影響在結束後很長一段時間內仍然存在。

In contrast, Documenta 15 lacked the exhibition-within-the-exhibition, and its anti-Semitism scandal could not have occurred in the same way in 2017 due to the complex object ontology that Documenta 14 had established within the field of contemporary art.

相較之下，第15屆卡塞爾文獻展缺乏展中展，而第14屆卡塞爾文獻展在當代藝術領域所建立的複雜的物體本體論，也不會像2017年那樣發生反猶太主義醜聞。

When theorist "Bifo" Berardi's performance was canceled in Documenta 14 for comparing the refugee crisis to the Holocaust, a new performance was staged in response. Roetstaele's explanation of the German government's reluctance to include the recovered estate of Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt in the exhibition highlights the government's desire to use the paintings as an opportunity to expiate guilt publicly.

當理論家「Bifo」 Berardi 在第 14 屆文獻展上的表演因將難民危機與大屠殺進行比較而被取消時，一場新的表演作為回應而上演。羅特斯塔爾對德國政府不願將納粹藝術品經銷商希爾德布蘭德·古利特追回的遺產納入展覽的解釋凸顯了政府希望利用這些畫作作為公開贖罪的機會。

Five years later, Taring Padi's caricature presented another such opportunity, but this time ruangrupa, who had successfully avoided the art world "pot," lacked the tools to defend themselves. The aftermath revealed art reduced to an arbitrary outcome of community activity, an approach that spells disaster for the art world.

五年後，塔林·帕迪的漫畫再次提供了這樣的機會，但這次成功避開藝術界「鍋」的魯昂格魯帕卻缺乏自衛的工具。後果顯示藝術淪為社區活動的任意結果，這種做法為藝術界帶來了災難。

Documenta 14 also shared the pretension of seeking real social impact in Athens, fostering relationships beyond being a transient phenomenon. However, Szymczyk's desire to have both cultural prestige and grassroots credibility proved to be a double-edged sword.

第十四屆卡塞爾文獻展也同樣希望在雅典尋求真正的社會影響，培養關係，而不僅僅是短暫的現象。然而，希姆奇克想要同時擁有文化聲望和草根信譽的願望被證明是一把雙面刃。

In the end, the fundamental question remains: what impact could Documenta possibly have had on Athens, the refugees, or the world at large? Was its presence in Athens a form of crisis tourism? Yes. But it was also an art exhibition, an intellectual, political, and artistic proposal that was rare in its scope and ambition.

最後，根本問題依然存在：文獻展可能對雅典、難民甚至整個世界產生什麼影響？它在雅典的存在是一種危機旅遊嗎？是的。但這也是一場藝術展覽，一次思想、政治和藝術的提議，其範圍和雄心都是罕見的。

"Exergue" captures the efforts of sharp and creative minds playing a game that could not be won, a testament to the constant struggle of the art world to find its place in a world on the brink of collapse.

《Exergue》捕捉到了敏銳而富有創造力的頭腦在玩一場無法獲勝的遊戲時所付出的努力，證明了藝術界為在崩潰邊緣的世界中找到自己的位置而不斷奮鬥的證明。