Presentation of the first artwork of dOCUMENTA (13) on June 21st, 2010 in Kassel’s Auepark
On the festive occasion of the summer solstice, "the first day of summer and the longest day of the year" the citizens of Kassel, Lord Mayor Bertram Hilgen, dOCUMENTA (13) Artistic Director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, and artist Giuseppe Penone came together to inaugurate Penone’s Idee di Pietra (Ideas of Stone) near the Orangerie in the Karlsaue park in Kassel as the first artwork on the way to dOCUMENTA (13). The work is offered to the people of Kassel in the lead up to June 9th 2012, the date that dOCUMENTA (13) will officially open.
Giuseppe Penone (b. Garessio, Turin, 1947) is a renowned arte povera artist who participated in documenta 5 (1972), documenta 7 (1982) and documenta 8 (1987). Idee di Pietra was originally installed in a park during the 16th Biennale of Sydney, which Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev curated in 2008. It stands here now as both a contribution to the remarkable history of outdoor sculptures that have been realised through previous documenta exhibitions and as a good omen for dOCUMENTA (13). Joseph Beuys’ 7000 Oaks, throughout the city, Walter De Maria’s The Vertical Earth Kilometer at the Friedrichsplatz, Claes Oldenburg’s and Coosje van Bruggen’s Spitzhacke near the river Fulda, Thomas Schütte’s Die Fremden on the roof of the Sinn Leffers department store, as well as Jonathan Borofsky’s Man walking to the sky in front of the Kassel train station are examples that are part of the collective memory and life of Kassel residents.
"This artwork", said Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, "celebrates the relation between nature and culture in our contemporary world through an ecological perspective. I was happy to see so many younger artists from all over the world in Kassel yesterday, to celebrate this moment together."
Penone personally introduced his work with the following words:
"The aim of painting is to cover with the light of colour. The aim of sculpture is to discover, to bring to light. The etymology of the word colour is related to the word cover and this is what happens when you brush colour over a surface.
Sculpture discovers form in matter, it reveals it.
If the meaning of painting is to cover and the meaning of sculpture is to discover, then the force of gravity characterises painting, and the force that escapes gravity, the force of light, characterises sculpture.
The work that I am presenting is connected to these two concepts. The stone is a mineral, and the most stable colours are extracted from stones. The stone indicates the force of gravity on the ground. The vegetal escapes the force of gravity, it lives and it grows high as a consequence of light. The structure of the vegetal world is determined by light that attracts the weight of branches and leaves. Bronze fusion occurs by force of gravity and uses the structure of the vegetal world to distribute liquid bronze into the mould of the sculpture.
The 21st of June, at midday, now, is the best and most appropriate moment to present this artwork and its intentions."