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Home , Charlotte Moorman, Documenta 5, Harald Szeemann, HA Schult, James Lee Byars

HARALD ­SZEEMANN

Museum of Obsessions October 13th, 2018 – January 20th, 2019 KUNSTHALLE DÜSSELDORF

HARALD ­SZEEMANN

Museum of Obsessions Museum of Obsessions

One of the most distinguished 9 10 advocates of and postminimalism, and a figure who 11 became synonymous with the Geographies advent of globalism in contemporary 8 art, Harald Szeemann (Swiss, 12 1933–2005) developed a new form of exhibition-making that centered A on close collaborations with artists 7 6 and a sweeping international vision of contemporary culture. Szeemann’s exhibitions covered B vast areas of research, challenging 5 traditional narratives of art history B and often embracing creative fields outside the visual arts. For each 3 of his more than 150 installations 4 and exhibitions, Szeemann added materials to his vast library and

research archive, which he referred 2 to as the “Museum of Obsessions”. His museum comprised not only the physical place of the archive but also a mental landscape that 1 encompassed all moments of genius and artistic intensity treated in Szeemann’s exhibitions, both realized and unrealized, past and future. This exhibition is divided into Grandfather: thematic sections. “Avant- A Pioneer Like Us Gardes” (2nd floor) addresses 1974 / 2018 Szeemann’s early exhibitions and his engagement with the artistic vanguards of the 1960s and early 1970s. “Utopias and Visionaries” (the light blue Room on the 1st floor) explores a trilogy of exhibitions Szeemann organized in the 1970s and 1980s that rewrote the narrative of early twentieth-century as a story of alternative political movements, mystical worldviews, and utopian ideologies. Fabbrica In the Foyer, “Geographies” Rosa examines Szeemann’s own Swiss identity, his penchant for travel, and his focus on broad international exhibitions and regional presentations later in his career. A reconstruction of Szeemann’s 1974 exhibition Grandfather: a Pioneer Like Us is on view in the so called “Seitenlichtsaal” on the 1st floor.

The exhibitions have been organized by the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, in cooperation Entrance with the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Curated by Glenn Phillips and Philipp Kaiser together with Doris Chon and Pietro Rigolo. 1

8 ½ Years 13 12 Avant-Gardes 2 – 7 8 – 11

1 – 2 4 5 – 8 10 3 9 2

Live in Your Head. When Attitudes Become Form 1 5 & 1 28 3 2 – 27

4 29

5

Utopias and 1–7 Visionaries 32 30 31

2 3 12

10 –11 The Bachelor Machines Tendency toward the 13 Gesamtkunstwerk: European Utopias since 1800 18

14 –17 8 19

9 4 24 12 – 15 20 – 23 11 1 12 – 13

14 10

15

16

Monte Verità 9 – 11 9 8 5

1– 8 6 7 6 1–7

2 3 12

10 –11 The Bachelor Machines Tendency toward the 13 Gesamtkunstwerk: European Utopias since 1800 18

14 –17 8 19

9 4 24 12 – 15 20 – 23 11 1 12 – 13

14 10

15

16

Monte Verità 9 – 11 9 8 5

1– 8 6 7 6 5. This Way Brouwn, Proposals for Avant-Gardes the Exhibition Plans and Projects as Art (1969) April 15, 1969 1 Stanley Brouwn (Suriname-born Dutch, 1935–2017) Manuscript letter with ink sketches 8 ½ Years 13 12 6 Unsolicited Proposal to NASA Sent to Szeemann for the Exhibition 2 – 7 8 – 11 Plans and Projects as Art (1969) April 2, 1969 1 – 2 4 5 – 8 10 3 9 Stephen Kaltenbach

2 (American, b. 1940) Typescript letter and gelatin silver print Live in Your Head. When Attitudes Become Form 7. Harald Szeemann’s Letter of Resignation from the Kunsthalle 1 May 10, 1969

Harald Szeemann­ Manuscript letter Happening & Fluxus

1 8.–12. 28 3 Agentur für geistige

2 – 27 Gastarbeit Szeemann founded his Agentur 4 für geistige Gastarbeit (Agency for

29 Spiritual Guest Labor) in 1969 in the wake of his resignation from the 5 Kunsthalle Bern. Emancipated from any official museum institution, he established himself as one of the first 32 30 independent curators. “Guest Labor” 31 refers to Szeemann’s identity as the grandson of a Hungarian immigrant as well as to the political plight of 8 ½ Years migrant laborers in , who had suffered increased discrimination In 1961, at age twenty-eight, with artists’ letters, proposals, in recent years. This touted outsider Szeemann was appointed and drawings from this period. status acknowledges Szeemann’s director of the Kunsthalle Bern The entrance wall in this room new-found identity as an independent in Switzerland, becoming one of reproduces a selection of posters agent doing the geistige (spiritual the youngest museum directors from the more than fifty exhibitions or intellectual) work of curating for in the world. During his 8½-year that were held at the Kunsthalle institutions on a temporary basis. tenure, Szeemann transformed the Bern during Szeemann’s tenure. Szeemann had a series of stamps Kunsthalle into an international made bearing the agency’s name showcase, focusing on the 1. Exhibition posters Kunsthalle and its various mottoes, including most current developments in Bern from 1961–1969 Besitz durch freie Aktionen ersetzen contemporary art while developing (Replace Property with Free Actions) innovative historical and thematic 2. Drawings for Christo and Jeanne- and SELBST (SELF). These designs exhibitions. Among these projects Claude’s Wrapped Kunsthalle, Bern, and mottoes made their way onto were surveys of kinetic art, art of Switzerland, 1967–68 his fax letterhead and packing tape, the mentally ill, religious folk art, 1968 which were used in the daily operation and science fiction as visual culture. Christo (Bulgarian-born American, b. 1935) of his business. In this way, Szeemann Szeemann looked at historical Pencil on paper realized his own utopic vision of modernism through exhibitions of a freelance curatorial agency as surrealism, Francis Picabia, Wassily 3. Drawing of Electric Nail, Proposal a “one-man team,” unburdened by the Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, and for the Exhibition 12 Environments bureaucracy of an official institution. Marcel Duchamp. He frequently (1968) exhibited American artists during ca. 1968 Wall, from left to right Günther Uecker this time, including projects by 8. List of Possible Names and , Andy Warhol, (German, b. 1930) Ink and felt marker on paper Mottoes for Szeemann’s Agency and . He was the 1970 first curator to commission artists 4. Letter of Invitation to Szeemann Harald Szeemann­ Christo and Jeanne-Claude to wrap with a Hand-Drawn Map of Several Typescript a building. Wrapped Kunsthalle, Places in Switzerland Among the names and mottoes Bern, Switzerland, 1967–68 (1968) 1971 that Szeemann considered for his was a project developed for the Jean Tinguely agency were “Agency that Profits Kunsthalle’s fiftieth anniversary. (Swiss, 1925–1991) from the Generation Gap,” “Agency Manuscript letter with ink, felt marker, and Szeemann built close relationships colored pencil sketches for Temporary Show Business,” with artists, and his archive is rich “Accomplishments,” and “Maybe.” 9.+10. Two Stamp Compositions 1. Four Poster Concept Drawings Projected Made with Szeemann’s Stamps for When Attitudes Become Form 4. Slideshow of Images from When early 1970s ca. 1969 Attitudes Become Form (1969) Harald Szeemann­ Markus Raetz (Swiss, b. 1941) Stamped and hand-drawn ink on paper Ink on paper 5. Wind in Water: Snow, Facsimile December 15, 1968 1968 11. Szeemann’s Fax Letterhead 2. Bern Mirror Displacement 1969 Hans Haacke Harald Szeemann (German, b. 1936) Facsimile Robert Smithson Xerox on board (American, 1938–1973) In case Gelatin silver prints This work was exhibited in When 12. Stamps and Packing Tape ­Szeemann produced these six Attitudes Become Form. ca. 1969–1975; ca. 2004 photographs, part of Robert Harald Szeemann Smithson’s Mirror Displacement 6. Photograph of the Roof of the Mixed media series, according to instructions Kunsthalle, Bern, Being Occupied Screens provided by Smithson. An by the Radiation from Uranyl Nitrate 13. Harald Szeemann – enlargement from the series was (UO2(NO3)2) The Bern Years exhibited in When Attitudes Become 1969 Produced by IMAGE and CONTENT / Form. Robert Barry Reto Caduff for Kunsthalle Bern / (American, b. 1936) The Getty Research Institute 3. In case Gelatin silver print As his contribution to When Attitudes Become Form, artist Robert Barry placed mildly radioactive uranyl Live in Your b e nitrate on the roof of the Kunsthalle Head. a a d Bern. c e e When Attitudes 7. Instructions for Representing Uranyl Nitrate (UO2(NO3)2) in the Become Form When Attitudes Become Form a. Szeemann’s Address List Exhibition Catalog 1969 In 1968, Szeemann was approached for His Visit to New York 1968 Robert Barry by the public relations firm Ruder (American, b. 1936) Finn and the tobacco conglomerate Harald Szeemann­ Typescript Philip Morris to produce a major Ink on paper corporate-sponsored exhibition of 8. Contract for Purchase of b. Szeemann’s Address List recent art. Szeemann embarked a Concept Tableau for His Visit to Los Angeles on a whirlwind of travel in search 1967 1968 of new talent. The resulting Edward Kienholz Harald Szeemann (American, 1927–1994) Printed paper exhibition, Live in Your Head. When Ink on paper Printed paper Attitudes Become Form (1969), This work was exhibited in When became perhaps the most infamous c. Szeemann’s Address List for Attitudes Become Form. exhibition of the 1960s – a sprawling, His Visit to San Francisco incredible, infuriating display of 1968 9. In case mostly younger artists on the verge Harald Szeemann­ of fame. The project surveyed Ink on paper related tendencies in art movements a b c d d. Catalog for When Attitudes e across the United States and Become Form Europe, focusing on conceptual Harald Szeemann, e e and process-based practices. editor (Bern: Kunsthalle Bern, 1969) a b c d Many artists made their works Szeemann modeled this exhibition directly on site, nearly destroying catalog after his own burgeoning the Kunsthalle Bern in the process: archive. Many of the artist entries splashed 460 pounds mimic his files for that artist. a. Installation View of Specifications of molten lead against the walls and for a Piece with Combustible tiled floor; smeared e. Installation View of Art by Materials and Related Proposal the corners with margarine; Telephone and Two Related Letters 1969; February 24, 1969 removed a section from Walter De Mariaa Robert Morris of permanent wall; Robert Morris 1969; 1969; March 25, 1969 (American, b. 1931) Photographer: Harry Shunk created a pile of flammable and Walter De Maria Exhibition print oil-soaked materials to be burned (American, 1935–2013) Typescript letter Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard at the end of the exhibition; and Gelatin silver print Michael Heizer used a wrecking ball Typescript letters with annotations in ink b. Installation View of Torches and to smash up the plaza outside the Related Sketch museum. The exhibition sparked 1969; February 22, 1969 an international controversy that Gilberto Zorio (Italian, b. 1944) ultimately led to Szeemann’s Photographers: Harry Shunk and János Kender resignation from the Kunsthalle – Exhibition print and propelled his career to new Manuscript letter with ink sketches heights of fame. c. Installation View of Reeds with an 5. Gino De Dominicis Standing Next Arc Lamp and Related Sketch documenta 5 to His Video Gino De Dominicis Is 1969; February 22, 1969 Watching You: Third Solution of Gilberto Zorio A key commission for Szeemann Immortality (Italian, b. 1944) came in 1970, when he was 1972 Photographers: Harry Shunk and János Kender Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Exhibition print appointed secretary general Manuscript letter with ink sketches of documenta 5 (1972), the fifth 6. Accelerazione = sogno, numeri iteration of documenta, the major d. Installation View of Torsion and di Fibonacci al neon e motocicletta international art exposition held Related Letter fantasma every five years in , Germany. 1969; February 18, 1969 1972 Setting the overall artistic direction (Italian, b. 1934) for the project and overseeing (Italy, 1925–2003) Photographers: Harry Shunk and János Kender a team of prominent curators, Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Exhibition print Szeemann set out to revitalize and Typescript letter with pencil sketches radicalize documenta’s program. 7. Michael Asher Anselmo’s letter proposed several Questioning Reality –Image Worlds 1972 , including Torsion. Today is widely regarded as the most Edward Kienholz (American, 1927–1994) e. Installation View of Walking significant and ambitious exhibition of the 1970s. Featuring more than Tour in the Berner Oberland (March 8. Five Car Stud 200 artists, the massive exhibition 19–22, 1969) and Two Related 1972 encompassed a remarkable range Documents Edward Kienholz 1969; 1968; 1969 of subjects, including conceptual (American, 1927–1994) Richard Long art, postminimalism, light and space Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard (English, b. 1945) art, , video art, pop Photographers: Harry Shunk and János Kender art, and photorealism, alongside Exhibition print 9. and John Dugger Ink and pencil on paper and Manuscript letter galleries devoted to political Sitting on the People’s Participation propaganda, advertising imagery, Pavilion 10. Remembering When Attitudes architectural utopias, science 1972 Become Form, 2017 fiction, artist’s museums, and art of Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Documentary video, 9 min the mentally ill. Planned surveys of Produced by IMAGE and CONTENT / Reto Caduff for the Getty Research Institute socialist realism from Russia and 10. Da inventare sul posto China were canceled due to political 1972 concerns. The largest section, (Italy / b. Greece, 1936–2017) personally organized by Szeemann, Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard was called “Individual Mythologies”, his term denoting the visual worlds 11. Thinking Room created by artists beyond the 1972 confines of style or movements. documenta 5, which featured 100 (French, b. 1935) days of events, performances, Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard actions, screenings, protests, and , set a new standard for 12. Cross-Fronts international survey exhibitions. 1972 (American, 1940–2017) * Projected Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard blps 1. Slideshow of Images from 1967–2015 documenta 5 (1972) 13. Joseph Beuys and Abraham David Christian in Boxing Match Richard Artschwager (American, 1923–2013) Wall from left to right for Direct Democracy, Refereed by Mixed media 2. Calling German Names Anatol in Ben Vautier’s Installation Seen in various locations throughout 1972 1972 Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard the galleries, Richard Artschwager’s playful blps are designed to fill (American, 1932–1997) Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard spaces that are normally considered 14. Gilbert and George 1972 “bad” for traditional art: high and 3. Astral Projections: Adam and Eve Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard low spots on walls, tight corners, in the Castle Gardens doors: anywhere there is space. Blps 1972 15. Joseph Beuys in His Information are usually black and are made of Paul Cotton Office of the Organization for Direct materials ranging from wood and (American, b. 1939) Democracy Referendum polyester to spray paint and vinyl. Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard 1972 Artschwager exhibited several dozen Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard blps in When Attitudes Become 4. Ed Ruscha with his poster Form, including on the radiators, in for documenta 5 16. Boîte-en-valise the bathrooms, on the roof, on top 1972 1972 of posters, and on the exterior of the Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Marcel Duchamp (France, 1887–1968) building. Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Lent by the Estate of Richard Artschwager, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery 13 16 7 10 20 23 3 26 14 5 11 17 22 8 19 24 2 27

4 15 25 9 18 6 12 21

17. Keith (1970), Joe (1969), 28. In case by placing themselves under the and Phil (1969) protection of the organizer, who 1972 reunifies the art by rendering it equal d c in the showcase/screen he prepares (American, b. 1940) for it. It is the organizer who assumes Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard a b d the contradictions; it is he who c protects them. It is true, then, that 18. Biokinetic Landscape d the exhibition asserts itself as its 1972 own subject and its own subject as HA Schult (German, b. 1939) work of art. a. Catalog for the Exhibition The exhibition is indeed the 19. Oasis No. 7 documenta 5: Questioning Reality – “valorizing receptacle” wherein 1972 Image Worlds Today art is not only played out but also Harald Szeemann, editor; Haus-Rucker-Co. Ed Ruscha, cover design damaged, because, if the work was (Austria) (American, b. 1937) revealed just yesterday thanks to Kassel: Documenta GmbH / the Museum, it now serves only as C. Bertelsmann Verlag, 1972 20. Kassel Corridor: Elliptical Space a decorative gimmick in the survival of 1972 the Museum as painting – a painting b. Exhibition of an Exhibition whose author is none other than the (American, b. 1941) 1972 organizer of the exhibition. And the Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard (French, b. 1938) artist throws himself and his work into 21. Circuit From Harald Szeemann, ed., documenta 5: this trap, because the artist and his Questioning Reality – Image Worlds Today work, as usual powerless to art, can 1972 (Kassel: Documenta GmbH / C. Bertelsmann Richard Serra Verlag, 1972), p. 17.29 only exhibit another: the organizer. (American, b. 1938) Some of the artists featured in docu- Hence, the exhibition as work of art, Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard menta 5, including Daniel Buren and as the limit of the exhibition of art. Robert Smithson, complained that Thus, the limits that art itself created 22. Primary Demonstration Szeemann’s grand themes subsumed to serve as its own refuge turn against 1972 their works into the curator’s personal it by imitating it, and the refuge of art, Klaus Rinke constituted by these limits, reveals (German, b. 1939) vision. Buren went so far as to claim that the artists had become brushs- itself to be the justification, the reality, and the tomb. 23. Mouse Museum (1965–77) trokes in Szeemann’s painting. 1972 Szeemann nonetheless welcomed Daniel Buren, February 1972 such criticism, even publishing their (Swedish-born American, b. 1929) complaints in the catalog. c. Letter from Ed Ruscha with Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Reference Photos for the Work Exhibition of an exhibition Spread 24. Ark Pyramide More and more, the subject of an May 3, 1972 1972 exhibition tends to no longer be the Ed Ruscha Paul Thek exhibition of works of art but the (American, b. 1937) (American, 1933–1988) Typescript letter with ink sketches exhibition of the exhibition as a work Gelatin silver prints of art. Here, it is the documenta 25. The Aeromodeller team, headed by Harald Szeemann, d. Telegrams Inviting Richard Nixon, 1972 that exposes (works) and exposes Chairman Mao, and the Queen of Panamarenko (Belgian, b. 1940) itself (to critiques). The works England to Attend documenta 5 Photographer: Leonardo Bezzola presented are carefully chosen 1972 strokes of color in the painting James Lee Byars (USA, 1932–1997) 26. Harald ­Szeemann und composed by each section (room) Ingeborg Lüscher as a whole. There is even an order 29. In case 1972 to these colors, these being defined Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard and composed according to the design (drawing) of the section b 27. Harald Szeemann on the Last (selection) in which they spread Night of documenta 5 out / present themselves. These a a a a 1972 sections (castrations) are themselves c Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard carefully chosen “strokes of color” in the painting that compose the exhibition as a whole, and in its very principle, which appear only a. Letter from Richard Serra 2. In case Regarding His Work in documenta 5 Happening & ca. 1972 Richard Serra a a (American, b. 1938) Fluxus b Manuscript letter with ink sketches and After resigning from the Kunsthalle c facsimiles Bern, Szeemann became the d e h b. Proposal Sketches for practitioner of a new profession: h i documenta 5 the independent curator, proposing f g g h k ca. 1972 projects to museums on a freelance j Mario Merz basis. His first major commission h (Italian, 1925–2003) came from the Kölnischer Kunst­ l m Manuscript letter with ink sketches verein in , Germany, for n o p p the exhibition Happening & Fluxus c. Postcard from Carl Andre (1970), co-organized with the Declining to Participate in r s t u artist . Happening & q documenta 5 Fluxus aimed to historicize the March 10, 1972 v w Carl Andre 1960s, outlining the networks of (American, b. 1935) performance artists who had laid Manuscript letter with ink sketch the foundations for the present scene. Artists were each given Drawn from Szeemann’s archive Screen a small space to display their and other collections at the Getty 30. documenta 5 - work, but the core of the exhibition Research Institute, the materials in Kunst der Welt ‘72 was the Dokumentationsstrasse Hessischer Rundfunk this frame relate to the development 43 min (Documentation Street), a line of of Happening & Fluxus and include Dokumente zur documenta 5 bulletin board–style displays original artworks and documentary in Kassel through the middle of the exhibition. materials from the exhibition. This WDR More than 600 photographs and presentation is inspired by the 44 min documents charted an international “bulletin board” format Szeemann development of performance art 31. In case used to display more than 600 pieces spanning not only the U.S. and of historical ephemera within the James Lee Byars Western Europe but also Scandinavia, exhibition, a system that he referred The work of James Lee Byars ranges Eastern Europe, and Japan. Yet to as the Dokumentationsstrasse from the monumental to the nearly most of this careful research was (Documentation Street). invisible. Szeemann included Byars overshadowed by the chaotic in multiple projects over more than opening performances, many of a. Two Photographs from the thirty years. Byars’s projects for the which offended the public and Edition The O.M. Theater: Ten exhibition documenta 5 included consumed the press. Particularly Original Photos and Seven Signed a performance in which he stood atop scandalous were the artists Objects the Museum Fridericianum in Kassel associated with Vienna Actionism, 1971 while calling out German whose sexually suggestive and names through a golden megaphone. violent performances were seen to (Austrian, b. 1938) A passionate producer of mail art, cross a moral line. Vostell’s project – Gelatin silver prints Byars sent Szeemann hundreds of a pregnant cow that would have artworks, including long painted given birth in the galleries – was b. Flyer Announcing Screening scrolls, enormous sheets of folded seized by police, leading to protests of Films in Kirchheim unter Teck, tissue paper, and fragile works by the artists. Germany containing glitter, seeds, or pigment. 1968 Otto Muehl In case, clockwise from top left Projection (Austrian, 1925–2013) You Missed My Masterpiece 1. Slideshow of Images from Ink and felt marker on paper 1975 Happening & Fluxus (1970) James Lee Byars c. Self-Painting II (American, 1932–1997) 1964 Colored pencil on paper Günter Brus James Lee Byars sent this mail (Austrian, b. 1938) Gelatin silver print artwork to Szeemann written on an invitation to a secret presentation of d. TV Bra for Living his performance The Perfect Kiss. 1970 Letter from James Lee Byars (South Korean–born American, 1932–2006) Performer: 1986 (American, 1933–1991) James Lee Byars Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard (American, 1932–1997) Exhibition print Colored pencil and red pigment on paper e. Anybody Can Have an Idea Harry ca. 1970 ca. 1975 Ben Vautier James Lee Byars (French, b. 1935) (American, 1932–1997) Ink on paper Stamped gold foil f. Conditions for Performing Fluxus r. Store Days II b. Flux Chess Published Compositions, Films, 1962 1965–1966 & Tapes Claes Oldenburg Takako Saitō ca. 1965 (Swedish-born American, b. 1929) (Japanese, b. 1929) Photographer: Robert McElroy Mixed media Exhibition print (Lithuanian-born American, 1931–1978) Printed paper c. Bead Puzzle s. Letter from Nam June Paik 1965 g. Instant Sperm 1970 1966 Nam June Paik (American, 1926–2008) (South Korean–born American, 1932–2006) Mixed media Tetsumi Kudō Manuscript letter (Japanese, 1935–1990) Mixed media d. Stamp Out Stamping t. Sketch of Exhibition Floor Plan 1965 h. Telegramm von ca. 1970 George Brecht 1970 Harald Szeemann­ (American, 1926–2008) Wood and rubber stamp Al Hansen Ink on paper (American, 1927–1995) u. Letter from e. Fluxus cc V TRE Fluxus i. Joseph Beuys Hanging a Poster August 5, 1970 (Fluxus Newspaper no. 2), Cover February 1964 for Refusal to Vote Ray Johnson (American, 1927–1995) 1970 George Maciunas Typescript letter with ink sketch (Lithuanian-born American, 1931–1978) Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Offset lithograph on paper Gelatin silver print v. Nekropolis II j. Cow 1962 4. In case 1970 Claes Oldenburg (Swedish-born American, b. 1929) Wolf Vostell Photographer: Robert McElroy (German, 1932–1998) Gelatin silver print Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Exhibition print w. Yard a k. Letter Protesting the Censorship 1967 / 1970 of Cow, Signed by Szeemann and (American, 1927–2006) Participating Artists Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard 5. November 1970 Exhibition print Typescript letter a. Flux Year Box 2 1966 l. Letter of Invitation to Participate Fluxus Various artists in Happening & Fluxus Sent to Allan Fluxus was an international move- Mixed media Kaprow ment of loosely affiliated artists 5. In case 28. Dezember 1969 whose practice defies easy classifica- Harald Szeemann­ tion. Working with art, poetry, music, Typescript letter with annotations in ink and performance, Fluxus artists were as likely to present their work in the c m. Front and Back Cover of form of concerts as exhibitions, and Dokumentationsstrasse Checklist most published innovative scores and a and Happening & Fluxus Brochures editions that provide instructions for b d 1970 performances, games, and interactive Cover drawings by activities. For , Wolf Vostell Happening & Fluxus (German, 1932–1998) George Maciunas used his exhibition space to present a survey of multiples a. Advertisement for Perpetual n. Letter from Milan Knížák from dozens of Fluxus artists from the Fluxusfest in Fluxus Vacuum ca. 1970 United States, Europe, and Japan. TRapEzoid (Fluxus Newspaper no. 5) Milan Knížák The multiples arranged here, drawn März 1965 (Czech, b. 1940) from various archives at the Getty George Maciunas Typescript (Lithuanian-born American, 1931–1978) Research Institute, are from editions Offset lithograph on paper o. Categorized Artist List exhibited in Happening & Fluxus. ca. 1970 b. A Flux Suicide Kit Harald Szeemann­ 3. In case 1967 Typescript Ben Vautier (French, b. 1935) p. Proposal for Flux Toilet a Mixed media ca. 1970 b George Maciunas e c. Flux Dreams (Lithuanian-born American, 1931–1978) 1969 Typescript letter with ink sketch and facsimile c d Milan Knížák (Czech, b. 1940) q. Poster for Ray Gun Theater Mixed media 1961 Claes Oldenburg a. Endless Box d. Fluxholes (Swedish-born American, b. 1929) 1965 Ink and pencil on paper 1964 Ben Vautier (Japanese, b. 1938) (French, b. 1935) Mixed media Mixed media manifestations of some of these Utopias and Visionaries literary machines, commissioning large-scale visual interpretations of impossible mechanical appara- tuses. While grounded in surrealist and art, the survey featured models of Leonardo da Vinci’s inven- 1–7 tions, objects from popular culture, and recent works of kinetic art. As the first large-scale project of his Agency for Spiritual Guest Labor, the 2 3 exhibition presented many logistical

12 challenges for Szeemann. It toured 10 –11 The Bachelor to seven venues over a period of Tendency toward the Machines more than two years. 13 Gesamtkunstwerk: European Utopias since 1800 1. 291, no. 5–6

18 Juli–August 1915

14 –17 8 Francis Picabia (French, 1879–1953) 19 Color lithograph 9 4 24 12 – 15 20 – 23 11 1 2. 391, nos. 6, 7, 5 12 – 13 1919 Francis Picabia 14 10 (French, 1879–1953) Color lithograph and stamped ink 15 These works were exhibited in 16 The Bachelor Machines. Monte Verità 9 – 11 9 8 5 3. Poster for the Exhibition The Bachelor Machines 1– 8 6 7 6 ca. 1975 Harald Szeemann Screenprint

Utopias and 1 and again throughout his career. These figures – mystics, auto- Emma Kunz Visionaries didacts, artists deemed mentally ill, Emma Kunz (1892–1963) was a Swiss 8 ½ Yearsand other imaginative geniuses13 – healer and a psychic. As an aid to In the decade following documenta 5, substantially shaped Szeemann’s 12 her spiritual quest and guided by Szeemann reduced his involvement understanding of the creative a pendulum, she produced hundreds with contemporary art and moved2 – 7 to process and of 8the – 11 role art can play of colored drawings on graph paper, Ticino, the Italian-speaking southern in society. which she considered diagrams part of Switzerland. 1 – 2 4 5 – 8 10 of mystical knowledge rather than After Grandfather: a Pioneer Like Us 3 9 artworks. Never exhibited during (1974),2 a reconstruction of which is The Bachelor Kunz’s lifetime, these drawings on view on the 1st floor, he focusedLive in Your Head. illustrate relations between physical on a complex trilogy of exhibitions.When Attitudes BecomeMachines Form phenomena, such as the movements With The Bachelor Machines (1975), of her pendulum, and forces that Monte Verità (1978), and Tendency This 1975 exhibition analyzed the oversee life in the universe. The cross toward the Gesamtkunstwerk (1983), increasing prevalence of a machine1 and, more generally, a convergence Szeemann presented a new reading aesthetic in European visual art and of horizontal and vertical planes are documenta 5 of modernity. These projects literature between roughly 1875 and recurrent themes in her compo­sitions, can be seenHappening & Fluxus as an attempt to re- 1925. A complex and difficult exhi- representing suffering on earth and radicalize1 early twentieth-century bition – with sections devoted to the overcoming of evil through spiri- avant-gardes as a series of shifting Jainism, Greek mythology, anthro28 - tual evolution. At the end of her life, 3 moments of artistic engagement pomorphism, robots and andro- Kunz devoted herself to experiments and revolutionary ideas rather than ids, femmes fatales, and art and2 – 27 with magnetism, making flowers a chronological series of aesthetic lovemaking machines – it had at generate new blooms and influencing 4 developments. its core the notion of the machine the weather. Documents and artworks from these célibataire (bachelor machine).29 The In the early 1970s, Szeemann exten- three exhibitions are complemented starting point was Michel Carrou- sively researched Kunz and featured 5 by material from Szeemann’s ges’s 1954 book of the same title, her works in The Bachelor Machines research collections related to ideas which had first proposed simila- and in many later shows. In Szee- that he saw as utopian models: rities between Marcel Duchamp’s 32 mann’s reading, Kunz’s drawings ’pataphysics, anarchism, and life The Bride Stripped Bare by Her 30 transcended the bachelors’ narcis- 31 reform movements, as well as his Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass) sistic creative process. They repre- own personal utopia, the Agency for (1915–1923) and machines described sent an art form stemming from Spiritual Guest Labor. Sections on in the works of writers Alfred Jarry, humility, generosity, and a will to the “visionary” artists include those Franz Kafka, Raymond Roussel, and understand and heal humanity. to whom Szeemann returned again others. Szeemann created physical 4. 10. Three Literary Visualizations Alfred Jarry ca. 1940s–1950s in the Style of Plans for a Machine Alfred Jarry (1873–1907) was Emma Kunz ca. 1975 a playwright, theater impresario, (Swiss, 1892–1963) Jean-Louis Couturier (A. Jihel) novelist, and visual artist. His work Lead or colored pencil, and crayon on (Frensh, b. 1947) graph paper anticipated many of the develop- Lent by a private collection, Switzerland ments of twentieth-century culture, 11. Illustrations Relating to The such as the theater of the absurd, Machine for Reading Roussel This drawing was purchased in 1974 ca. 1964 Dada, and surrealism. In the maga- by artist Meret Oppenheim following Juan Esteban-Fassio zines he edited, as well as in his the first public display of Kunz’s work. (Argentinian, 1924–1980) novels and artworks, Jarry reap- Kunz and Oppenheim were among propriated disparate visual and the very few women artists featured in 12. In case literary elements from the past and offered them a radical new context, The Bachelor Machines. providing Szeemann with a model e for his own curatorial practice. 5. The Pendulum Kunz Used to b Jarry’s play Ubu Roi (King Ubu, 1896) Make Drawings a ca. 1950s marked the beginning of a new era Photographer unknown c d in modern theater. Developed from Exhibition print f a farce Jarry wrote with school- mates about one of their high school 6. Emma Kunz in her work space teachers, the childish, evil, greedy, 1958 Photographer unknown a. Title Designs for and, above all, stupid character of Exhibition print The Bachelor Machines Ubu challenged all of the literary ca. 1975 conventions of the time, while its 7. Emma Kunz’s Marigold (Swiss, b. 1941) author, with his highly artificial Experiment, in which Twelve Blooms Ink on paper persona and eccentric behaviors, Grew from the Flower after Applying inspired a whole generation of b. Sculptural Visualization of “The Magnetic Force artists. The novel The Supermale Diamond” from Raymond Roussel’s 1953 (1902), central in Szeemann’s exhibi- Locus Solus Photographer unknown tion The Bachelor Machines, offers Exhibition print 1975 Model maker: Jacques Carelman a frightening view of the future, in Photographer: Albert Winkler which bicyclists are fed alcohol and 8. Sketch for a Sculptural Gelatin silver print strychnine-based “perpetual-mo- Visualization of the “Torture tion food,” and a “love-inspiring Machine” from Franz Kafka’s c. Sketch for a Sculptural machine” ends up electrocuting the In the Penal Colony Visualization of “The Diamond” from protagonist. ca. 1975 Raymond Roussel’s Locus Solus Harald Szeemann ca. 1975 The rare photographs of Jarry, his Ink on paper Harald Szeemann publications, and the artworks on view here are from Szeemann’s 9. Sculptural Visualization of d. Notes extensive collection. the “Torture Machine” from ca. 1975 Franz Kafka’s In the Penal Colony Harald Szeemann 14. L’Oeuvre, no. 5 1975 : La Belle Édition, May 1912 Werner Ruck and Paul Gysin, e. Cards Used in The Machine for model makers 15. Profile of Mère Ubu and Reading Roussel ca. 1960s “Merdre” In Franz Kafka’s short story In the December 15, 1895 Penal Colony (In der Strafkolonie, Juan Esteban Fassio (Argentinian, 1924–1980) Alfred Jarry written 1914, published 1919), set (French, 1873–1907) Ink on the back of a mourning card on an unnamed island, the officer f. Photograph of The Machine for “Merdre” is a distortion of the French in charge subjects himself to an old Reading Roussel merde (shit). It is the opening line execution machine in disrepair. The ca. 1960s of Jarry’s Ubu Roi (King Ubu), and machine is designed to inscribe a Juan Esteban Fassio death sentence upon its victim’s (Argentinian, 1924–1980) greatly contributed to the scandal body before subjecting him to twelve the play provoked when it was first hours of torture followed by death. 13. Etching after Marcel Duchamp’s performed on December 10, 1896, at When the machine malfunctions, the Coffee Grinder (1911) the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre in Paris. officer is stabbed to death and dies ca. 1912 immediately. Jacques Villon 16. Ubu Roi (King Ubu) (French, 1875–1963) The sculptural visualization of this ca. 1896 After Marcel Duchamp machine that only existed in literature Alfred Jarry (French, 1887–1968) (French, 1873–1907) was designed by Szeemann based Etching Linocut on a preliminary sketch published by This work was exhibited in The Michel Carrouges and realized in the Bachelor Machines. 17. The Three “Palotins” workshop of the Loeb department Alfred Jarry store in Bern. (French, 1873–1907) From Alfred Jarry, Les minutes de sable: Mémorial (Paris: Éditions du Mercure de France, 1894), n.p. 18. In case k. Booklet of Postage Stamps 20. Rrose Sélavy and I Escape Featuring Pataphysical Symbols and from the Bruises of the Eskimos in a b c Figures Exquisite Words j k l Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, ca. 1960s 1924 d e f Marcel Duchamp l. Black Minutes of Memorial Sand (French, 1887–1968) Alfred Jarry Ink and colored pencil on paper o (French, 1873–1907) g h i m n Paris: Éditions du Mercure de France, 1894 21. Spiral Jetty 1970 m. Tatane Robert Smithson a.–i. Nine Photographs Related to Alfred Jarry (American, 1938–1973) (Frankreich, 1873–1907) Photographer: Gianfranco Gorgoni Alfred Jarry Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, 1954 Gelatin silver prints Gelatin silver print n. Unknown Jarry a. Alfred Jarry and Andrée 22. Floor Plan for the Museum Jean Mollet of Obsessions Terrasse-Bonnard Giving Butcher’s (French, 1877–1964) Leftovers to Two Cats ca. 1975 ca. 1900 o. Spring Sun Harald Szeemann Ink on paper (facsimile) Attributed to Claude Terrasse Alfred Jarry (French, 1867–1923) (French, 1873–1907), author The spiral is one of the quintessential Pierre Bonnard pataphysical symbols, representing b. Le Tripode, a Building Alfred (French, 1867–1947), illustrator the belly of King Ubu, the overweight Jarry Designed in Le Coudray as His Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, 1957 hero of Jarry’s plays; it can be found Residence and for Storage for His everywhere in twentieth-century Bicycle and Canoe ’Pataphysik culture. Presented here are examples 1907 As prophesied by writer and visual from the work of Marcel Duchamp, Attributed to Gabrielle Vallette artist Alfred Jarry in his writings, (French, 1898–1984) a member of the Collège de ’Pata- ’pataphysics has been variously physique, and Robert Smithson, who c. Alfred Jarry and Charles and Jean described as the science of details made notes about Jarry while working Terrasse, Noisy-le-Grand, France and of the individual, as well as the on his major earthwork Spiral Jetty. ca. 1900 science of imaginary solutions. Szeemann, who was also a member Attributed to Claude Terrasse ’Pataphysics is based on the of the Collège, used a spiral as (French, 1867–1923) principles of universal equivalence the central motif for this sketch of (everything is the same) and of the d. Pierre Bonnard’s Wife Marthe, his Museum of Obsessions, which inversion of contraries. ’Pataphysics a Friend, and Pierre Bonnard in the featured four sections dedicated to is therefore not describable, as all Artist’s Studio, with the Ubu Puppet the natural elements. possible descriptions are valid and all Hanging on the Wall behind Them are the same. On wall, left to right ca. 1900 Photographer unknown The main objectives of this science- 23. Postcards Telling the Story of without-objectives include ridiculing Alfred Jarry’s Life e. Alfred Jarry and Alfred Vallette every form of power and authority, ca. 1980 1898 P. J. Dunbar Printed paper Photographer unknown and embracing and celebrating absurdity and contradictions. 24. In case f. Pierre Bonnard’s Studio ’Pataphysics constitutes a strenuous ca. 1900 form of resistance toward any kind of Photographer unknown systematization or attempt to make b c sense of the universe. a g. The Three Graces By the time Szeemann moved to Paris 1898 e f Photographer unknown in 1956, Jarry had become a cult d Alfred Jarry, André-Ferdinand Hérold figure among intellectuals gathered (background), Rachilde (Marguerite around the Collège de ’Pataphysique, founded in 1948 and still active. The ValletteEymery), and Marie-Thérèse a. Planisphere of the Collière, shown in Corbeil. The title Collège plays a fundamental role in the understanding of ’pataphysics Pataphysical World may derive from the fact that Jarry ca. 1950er–1960er Jahre as a delirious structure in which is wearing Rachilde’s shoes. Juan Esteban Fassio the cult of hierarchy and titles is (Argentine, 1924–1980) h. Alfred Jarry and Fencing Master manifested in an organizational Gouache, pencil, colored pencil, and ink on Blaviel at Blaviel’s Studio in Laval chart with no end and, ultimately, lithograph 1906 no meaning. Its poignant parody of Photographer unknown institutional bureaucracy played a role b. Letter to the Transcendant Satrap in Szeemann’s elaboration of his own Raymond Queneau, i. Puppet of King Ubu for the Agency for Spiritual Guest Labor. Chief Conservator O. G. G., by the Production at the Théâtre des T. S. Latis Phynances in 1888 Emmanuel Peillet ca. 1900 19. “What Is the Collège of (French, 1914–1973) Photographer unknown ’Pataphysics?” Informational Sheet Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, 1969 Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, ca. 1950s c. Subsidia Pataphysica, nos. 0–10 j. César-Antechrjst Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, 1965–1970 Alfred Jarry (French, 1873–1907) Paris: Éditions du Mercure de France, 1895 d. Proteus d. Ascona: A Brochure Philippe Quinault Erich Mühsam (French, 1635–1688) Monte Verità Locarno: Verlag von Birger Carlson, 1905 Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, 1958 The exhibition Monte Verità (1978) e. “Ascona, the German Artists’ e. Address List for the Collège de focused on the history of the Paradise on Lake Maggiore” ’Pataphysique creative communities formed on Hans Ludwig ca. 1956 and near a hill of the same name in In Stuttgarter Illustrierte, no. 6 (1932), p. 125 Typescript Ascona, Switzerland, close to where Among the members listed on this Szeemann relocated in the 1970s. f. Tours in Ticino: Walks around page are artists Marcel Duchamp Since the 1870s, when anarchist Ascona; Monte Verità as a Center for and Max Ernst; actors Groucho, ideologue Mikhail Bakunin lived Excursions Chico, and Harpo Marx; and poet and Ascona: Kurhotel Monte Verità, 1929 in the region, it had been a center Nos. c, d, and f were exhibited screenwriter Jacques Prévert and his where many utopian experiments in Monte Verità. dog Ergé.. and other attempts to transform On wall, top society were tested. 2. Plan of the Settlement above f. Haha: An Unpublished Treatise At the beginning of the twentieth Ascona, January 1914 by Bosse-de-Nage century, a group led by Ida Hofmann, Paris: Collège de ’Pataphysique, ca. 1950 1914 a music teacher, and Henri Bosse-de-Nage is a character from Alexander Wilhelm de Beauclair Oedenkoven, the son of a wealthy Alfred Jarry’s Exploits and Opinions Ink and colored pencil on paper Dutch industrialist, established of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (written De Beauclair was an artist and the a vegetarian and nudist sanatorium 1898, published 1911). A hydro­ secretary of the Monte Verità Veg­etar- on the hill. After World War I, the cephalic baboon who can only say ­ian Society. This map was exhibited in success of Ascona as a lakeside “haha,” he is the Starosta – a title from Monte Verità. resort attracted many artists, and ancient Slavic designating a leader – Monte Verità became an important On wall, bottom of the Collège de ’Pataphysique, center for the development of 3. Photograph of Monte Verità assistant to the Unmovable Curator modern dance. ca. 1920er Jahre (Dr. Faustroll, the fictional and perma- Photographer unknown In his exhibition, Szeemann sought nent head of the institution). Exhibition print to offer a holistic and transhistoric vision of the mountain, highlighting On wall, top the symbolism and potential for 4. Poster for the Exhibition change in the events that occurred Monte Verità there. History was organized into 1975 four main topics, which Szeemann Paul Brühwiler (Swiss, b. 1939) saw as the breasts of a goddess of Offset lithograph Truth, a deity of his own invention. Szeemann conducted extensive In case research on the history of Monte 5. Monte Verità Tureen ca. 1920s Verità and, for the rest of his life, Porcelain continued to champion and defend the site’s fragile heritage. The exhibition was later developed into Life Reform a permanent museum installed Following the heavy industrialization in Casa Anatta, one of the main of Europe at the start of the twentieth buildings of the sanatorium. century, communities promoting a healthy lifestyle and humankind’s 1. In case reintegration into nature began to flourish. Monte Verità played a a prominent role in this movement, a b which was particularly potent in a c German-speaking countries and is a a usually referred to as Lebensreform (life reform). In 1900, a small group of vegetarians d e f relocated to the hill. Gusto Gräser, the most radical among the original settlers, immediately distanced a. Five Photographs of Monte Verità himself from the ambitions of Henri Residents Oedenkoven and Ida Hofmann and ca. 1900–1920 went to live in a nearby cave. Photographers unknown With funds provided by Oedenkoven’s Gelatin silver prints family, the two main buildings on the property were completed in 1904, and b. Henri Oedenkoven Monte Verità became a sanatorium ca. 1900–1920 Photographer unknown that operated until 1920. Remedies Gelatin silver print at the health resort included a strict vegetarian diet, nude sunbathing, and c. Monte Verità: Truth outdoor physical activity. In 1926, the without Poetry compound was acquired by banker Ida Hofmann and art collector Eduard von der Lorch: Röhm, 1906 Heydt, who built a modernist hotel on the hill. On wall, top e. Vegetabilismus! Vegetarismus! wrote this letter from prison to the 6. Photograph of Totimo, Suzanne 1905 artist Adolf Stocksmayr, a member Perrottet, Katja Wulff, Maja Lederer, Ida Hofmann of the vegetarian commune who Betty Baaron Samoa, and Rudolf von Self-published was then living in Ascona. Gräser Laban at Monte Verità In this leaflet, self-published by laments that he is still waiting to 1914 Hofmann while on Monte Verità, the appear in court, inquires about Photographer: Johann Adam founder of the vegetarian commune how Stocksmayr’s family is doing Meisenbach promotes the new lifestyle. “Vege- on Monte Verità, and discusses the Exhibition print tabilismus” advocates for a strict publication of his pictures. Between 1913 and 1918, Rudolf diet, similar to veganism, in which von Laban, one of the pioneers of all animal products, salt, alcohol, In frame modern dance in Europe, established tobacco, coffee, and other stimulants 10. a Schule für Kunst (School for Art) are forbidden. on Monte Verità. Besides dance and rhythm classes, the curriculum f. Guide to Health through Fasting a included cooking, gardening, and and an Energetic Diet b sewing. Ferdinand Bauer c Freiburg: Lorenz, 1901 c On wall, bottom Nos. a, d, and e were exhibited c d 7. Sun Walkers in Monte Verità. ca. 1905 f e Fidus (Hugo Höppener) In frame e (German, 1868–1948) 9. Lithograph These works were exhibited a a a a Ernst Frick in Monte Verità. Frick moved to Ascona in 1911. Lent by a private collection a a a After years of subversive activity as In frame a political activist, he began painting 8. b c and was one of the founders of the expressionist artist society Der a b b d d grosse Bär (The Great Bear). Frick was also a self-taught archaeologist who conducted pioneering research c on Celtic settlements in the region. The handwritten notes detail Frick’s Karl und Gusto Gräser study of the origins of the name d e f The Gräser brothers were among the Ascona. founders of the vegetarian commune at Monte Verità. Gusto used short a. Untitled Landscape texts, poems, and drawings on post- 1921 a. A Vegetarian at Monte Verità cards and notes to share his beliefs Ernst Frick ca. 1900–1920 on the “return to nature” and pacifism, (Swiss, 1881–1956) Photographer unknown Color relief and pencil on paper Gelatin silver print whereas Karl designed highly original furniture out of wooden sticks and b. Sketch b. Two Postcards of a Family branches. 1942–1943 of Vegetarians in Blankenburg, Ernst Frick Germany a. Seven Jahrleiter with Paintings (Swiss, 1881–1956) ca. 1890er–1900er Jahre ca. 1900–1930 Pencil on paper Photographers unknown Gusto Gräser Gelatin silver prints (German, 1879–1958) c. Three Photographs of Ernst Frick Life reform was a widespread move- First row: Colored pencil and hand color on paper ca. 1930 Second row: Ink on paper ment in Germany and Switzerland Photographers unknown Gelatin silver prints between the end of the nineteenth b. Karl Gräser century and the advent of Nazism. ca. 1900–1920 d. Sunrise, January 6, 1948 The postcard on the right promotes Photographer unknown 1948 the healthy life choices of the vege- Gelatin silver print Ernst Frick tarian family by listing the types of c. Furniture Designed by Karl (Schweiz, 1881–1956) fruits, nuts, and vegetables in their Ink and hand color on paper Gräser diet. ca. 1900–1920 Photographer unknown e. Notes on the Possible Celtic c. Monte Verità Residents Exhibition print Origins of the Name Ascona ca. 1900er–1920er Jahre ca. 1910–1930 Photographer unknown d. Letter to Adolf Stocksmayr Sent Ernst Frick Gelatin silver print from Prison (Swiss, 1881–1956) Ink on paper August 28, 1918 d. Journal for the Dissemination of a Higher World View Gusto Gräser f. Untitled Landscape Hermann Schutz-Suppiger, editor (German, 1879–1958) 1917 Ascona: Hastinapura, ca. 1910s Manuscript letter and facsimile Ernst Frick In the summer of 1918, Gusto Gräser (Swiss, 1881–1956) was arrested in Zurich for not having Crayon and hand color on paper a Swiss residence permit. Gräser In frame of Fontana Martina, near Ascona. f. Polis, Nr. 10 11. In the remarkable expressionist September 1, 1907 woodcuts featured on the magazine’s Johannes Widmer, editor Zurich covers, scenes of police brutality and a b a social unrest are interspersed with g. The Communist International, depictions of the quiet farm life of the no. 6 commune. Petrograd: Smolny, 1919 c On wall, left to right c d Elisàr von Kupffer c 12. Facsimile of the print Writer, artist, and early gay-rights Stammbaum des modernen advocate Elisàr von Kupffer (1872– Sozialismus (Family Tree of Modern 1942), also known as Elisarion, moved Socialism) permanently to Ticino in 1915 together Charlotte Bara from Tages Anzeiger Magazin, n. 49 (1972) Charlotte Bara was one of the with his partner, the philosopher many dancers who gravitated to 13. Fontana Martina, Eduard von Mayer. In Switzerland, Monte Verità. Her work was highly Nr. 7, 11, 14, 16 the two were able to accomplish their influenced by Eastern imagery and Fritz Jordi and Heinrich Vogeler, editors dream of building the Sanctuarium was always suffused with religious Ronco s. Ascona: Bergpresse, 1932 Artis Elisarion, a temple for Clarism, meanings. In the 1920s, she founded These works were exhibited in the religion they founded. Its doctrine her own theater in Ascona and Monte Verità. foresees a path of spiritual elevation operated a school for dance, theater, through reincarnation, leading to 14. In case and singing. an afterlife in which all dualities – above all, male and female – are a. Two Programs for Dance transcended in a new world b d Performances characterized by peace and harmonic by Charlotte Bara a f g beauty. ca. 1920s c e In the late 1970s, Szeemann played b. Poster of the Dancer a crucial role in preserving Elisar- Charlotte Bara ion’s estate, especially The Clear World of the Blessed, a series of ca. 1920s a. Revolution, Nr. 1 Any Pohl October 15, 1913 canvases forming an immersive, Lithograph Hans Leybold, editor almost 360-degree visual represen- This poster was exhibited in : H. F. S. Bachmair, 1913 tation of heaven, originally installed Monte Verità. in a custom-made octagonal space in b. Michael Bakunin: The the Sanctuarium. Szeemann saw Elis- c. Three Photographs of Revolutionary Anarchism arion’s quest for beauty and love as Hans Müller Charlotte Bara Zurich: Sozialistische part of a wider attempt to reformulate ca. 1920er Jahre Verlagsgenossenschaft, 1919 life and society in the region, and as Photographers unknown a key element of the history of inten- Gelatin silver prints c. Kain, no. 4 tions and failures he was exploring in July 1912 d. “Ritual Dance,” Newspaper Monte Verità. Erich Mühsam Article on Charlotte Bara Munich: Kain-Verlag, 1912 On wall 1926–1927 15. Two Studies for Sections of the Ulfred Herrmanns Panoramic Painting The Clear World In Familien-Wochenblatt, no. 15 d. Anarchist Program (July 1926–July 1927), p. 346 Ericco Malatesta of the Blessed Brussels: Les Arts Graphiques, 1920 ca. 1923–1939 Elisàr von Kupffer Alternative politische e. An-Archie, a Poem on Anarchism (Estonian-born Swiss, 1872–1942) Bewegungen 1919 Tempera on canvas The history of anarchism and other Author unknown Lent by the City of Minusio, Donation Elisàr von Ink on paper Kupffer and Eduard von Mayer alternative political movements played an important role for An-Archy Szeemann as both an area of Wanting no governance does not 16. In case scholarly research and a utopian mean wanting to be without law. ideal that symbolized his admiration It means the opposite: knowing the h for individual and artistic freedoms highest and most deeply inhering law a d and the subversion of oppressive and respecting this alone; recognizing a b c g a societal rules. Szeemann found that all governance only as a pathetic and e f i same spirit in many of the artworks he ruinous surrogate of this law, and admired. therefore condemning it. The selection of left-wing, The chaos that pencil-pushers today like to call “anarchy,” thoughtlessly anarchist, and pacifist journals a. Three Self-Portraits and documents on view are from or in slander, is nothing other than ca. 1900–1920 Szeemann’s personal collection; the stunned and shattered priorarchy Elisàr von Kupffer some were featured in exhibitions that war created, in which it mani- (Estonian-born Swiss, 1872–1942) such as Monte Verità. The antifascist festly was smashed – the priorarchy, Gelatin silver prints magazine Fontana Martina (1931– which today will be patched together 1932) by the communist typographer again, as always after the explosions Fritz Jordi was published by an artist it engenders. colony founded in 1928 in the village Von Kupffer was also a photogra- palace so that he could feature it pher. The figures in his paintings are Tendency ­toward in exhibitions including Tendency often self-portraits, modeled after his ­toward the Gesamtkunstwerk (1983), staged photographs. These photos the Gesamt- Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon were exhibited in Monte Verità. L’A u t r e (1997), and Money and value: kunstwerk: The last taboo (2002). b. Reproduction of the painting Pedestal On the Way to the Sacred 1. Model of Ferdinand Cheval’s ca. 1919 ­European Le Palais Idéal Elisàr von Kupffer (Estonian-born Swiss, 1872–1942) Utopias ca. 1983 Gelatin silver print on board Alain Duperron, model maker since 1800 Lent by Ingeborg Lüscher c. Interior View of the Sanctuarium Screen Artis Elisarion in Minusio, Szeemann’s 1983 exhibition 2. From Vision to Nail Switzerland Tendency toward the Gesamtkunst- 2017 ca. late 1930s–1940s werk: European Utopias since 1800 Documentary video, 8 min Photographer unknown Produced by IMAGE and CONTENT / Gelatin silver print was among his most ambitious. The Reto Caduff for the Getty Research Institute term Gesamtkunstwerk (total work d. Letter to Emil Zetzsche with of art) originated with the German Screen a Lock of von Kupffer’s Hair opera composer and theater direc- 3. Installation shots of 1914 tor Richard Wagner, who sought to Bachelor Machines, Monte Elisàr von Kupffer bring together all of the arts – poetry, Veritá and Tendency toward the (Estonian-born Swiss, 1872–1942) music, dance, and the visual – to Gesamtkunstwerk Mixed media achieve a heightened sensory aware­ Armand Schulthess e. Sanctuarium Artis Elisarion, ness. This increased attentiveness Armand Schulthess (1901–1972) Locarno-Minusio: a Selection of would free audience members from ­retired and moved to Auressio, near Press Reviews through January the doldrums of life in a technologi- Monte Verità, in 1952. He retreated 1930 cal age, allowing them to return to from society and began recording 1930 nature. Szeemann’s exhibition took his thoughts and knowledge in hand- Elisàr von Kupffer Wagner’s concept of the Gesamt- (Estonian-born Swiss, 1872–1942) kunstwerk as his point of departure, made books. He inscribed data such expanding across media to include as chemical formulas, horoscopes, f. Hand-Drawn Floor Plan for the visual, cinematic, dance, perfor- and historic dates and names onto Elisarion mance, and audio works by some tin-can lids, bundles of paper, and ca. 1937 four dozen visionaries. He included pieces of wood. Schulthess arranged Elisàr von Kupffer an installation by Joseph Beuys, thousands of these objects around (Estonian-born Swiss, 1872–1942) his hillside property, accumulating an Ink on paper musical scores by , paint­ ings by Wassily Kandinsky, archi- encyclopedia of knowledge in g. Same-Sex Courtly Love and Love tectural models of Rudolf Steiner’s the forest. between Friends in World Literature Goetheanum (1910–1913) and French Ingeborg Lüscher met Schulthess Elisàr von Kupffer, editor postman Ferdinand Cheval’s Ideal in the last years of his life and began Berlin: Adolf Brand Verlag, 1900 Palace (1879–1912), and a full-scale documenting his activity, which she This book, edited by von Kupffer in reconstruction of ’s presented at documenta 5. Lüscher 1900, is the first modern anthology immersive environment Merzbau and Szeemann, by then a couple, of homoerotic literature. The author (1920–1936). saved some of Schulthess’s work compiled passages covering cen­­ from destruction. turies of literature, from the Bible to Schulthess continued to feature his own poetry, and included sources Facteur Cheval in Szeemann’s exhibitions. In from Europe, the Mediterranean French artist Ferdinand Cheval The Bachelor Machines, his work basin, and Japan. (1836–1924) was born into a peasant embodied the hermit awaiting the family in the rural village of Charmes arrival of his bride. In Monte Verità, h. Postcard for the Sanctuarium sur l’Herbasse near Hauterives. He his forest retreat comprised the last Artis Elisarion was identified by his profession as utopia in a century-long history of ca. 1920s–1930s Facteur (Postman) Cheval; his postal the region. And in Tendency toward route was an almost thirty-kilometer i. Harald Szeemann Installing the Gesamtkunstwerk, Schulthess journey each day by foot. Cheval The Clear World of the Blessed represented the futile endeavor began building an idealized palace ca. 1978 to reconcile nature and human Photographer unknown following a vision, with no prior knowledge. In significant ways, Gelatin silver print sculptural or architectural training. Schulthess’s and Szeemann’s lives He collected rocks that he found mirror one another. Szeemann, the on his daily postal route—first in his globetrotting curator, took refuge pockets, then in a bucket, and finally in the environs of Monte Verità and in a wheelbarrow. Over the course of created his personal Museum of 33 years, he gradually realized the Obsessions in the Fabbrica Rosa, his Palais Idéal that he saw in his dream, office and archive. completing it in 1912. The palace still stands today as an historical monu- 4. Encyclopedia in the Forest ment. Cheval was a key figure in Szee- 1952–1972 mann’s pantheon of visionary artists Armand Schulthess and he went so far as to commission (Swiss, 1901–1972) Photography and installation: a model of the postman’s idealized Documentation about A. S., 1972 a. Views of the Goetheanum (1963). In 1972, he reintroduced Photo panels with b/w photographs, taken in the in Dornach Wölfli to a contemporary audience forest of A. S., 10 units. These works were shown at documenta 5. Rudolf Steiner in the context of the “Individual (Austrian, 1861–1925), Architect Mythologies” section of documenta 5, Photographer unknown Ingeborg Lüscher which included a ­replica of the (German-born Swiss, b. 1936) In Nachrichten für Mitglieder/was in der artist’s room at ­Waldau, complete Mixed media and photographic prints Anthroposophischen Gesellschaft vorgeht with furniture and stacks of his Lent by Ingeborg Lüscher (Dornach: Allgemeine Anthroposophische Gesellschaft, 1929), special no. 8, n.p. notebooks. Szeemann continued to exhibit Wölfli’s work in subsequent 5. In case b. Color Lithograph in exhibitions, including Tendency Festivals of Life and Art toward the Gesamtkunstwerk (1983), Peter Behrens Visionary Switzerland (1991), and (German, 1868–1940) Money and Value: The Last Taboo (2002). a a b b In Peter Behrens, Feste des Lebens und der Kunst: Eine Betrachtung des Theaters als höchsten Kultursymbols (Leipzig: Eugen Diederichs, 1900), p. 4–5 10. Bridal Ring 1905 Adolf Wölfli 9. In case (Swiss, 1864–1930) a. Lithograph in Pencil on paper The Dissolution of Cities Sammlung Prinzhorn 1920 Bruno Taut 11. Model of Richard Wagner’s (German, 1880–1938) a a b Bayreuth Festival Theater ca. 1983 In Bruno Taut, Die Auflösung der Städte; or, Alain Duperron, model maker Die Erde eine gute Wohnung; as well as in: Der Lent by Una Szeemann and Ingeborg Lüscher Weg zur Alpinen Architektur; In 30 Zeichnungen (Hagen in West: Folkwang-Verlag, 1920), p. 11 This intricate cutaway-view ­model reproduces Richard Wagner’s a. Lyrical, Color Woodcut in Sounds b. The Balls! The Circles! Bayreuth Festival Theater. Con­ Wassily Kandinsky struct­ed between 1872 and 1876, The Wheels!, Lithograph in (Russian, 1866–1944) Alpine Architecture In Wassily Kandinsky, Klänge (Munich: R. Piper, the historic structure was based on Bruno Taut 1913), n.p. Wagner’s designs, which he adapted (German, 1880–1938) These publications by key from architect Gottfried Semper’s In Bruno Taut, Alpine Architektur modernist artists of the early unrealized plans for an opera house (Hagen in West: Folkwang-Verlag, 1919), pl. 28 twentieth century were exhibited by in Munich. This was one of several On wall Szeemann in Tendency toward the architectural models that ­Szeemann 6. Untitled Gesamtkunstwerk. specially commissioned for ­Tendency Oskar Schlemmer toward the Gesamtkunstwerk. (German, 1888–1943) b. Kunstismus, 1914–1924 Photolithographs On wall, left to right From 10 Zeichnungen (Stuttgart: Eidos-Presse, (The Isms of Art) 1947), a suite of ten prints El Lissitzky 12. Day (Russian, 1980–1941) 1805 These publications by key Erlenbach-Zürich: Eugen Rentsch, 1925 Philipp Otto Runge modernist artists of the early (German, 1777–1810) twentieth century were exhibited by Adolf Wölfli 13. Morning Szeemann in Tendency toward the Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930) 1805 Gesamtkunstwerk. was born in Bowil, near Bern, and Philipp Otto Runge orphaned at a young age. Following (German, 1777–1810) 7. Poster for the Exhibition Tendency repeated allegations of sexual toward the Gesamtkunstwerk: assault, he was diagnosed with 14. Evening 1805 European Utopias since 1800 schizophrenia and institutionalized in 1983 Philipp Otto Runge 1895 at Waldau Mental Asylum, where Markus Raetz (German, 1777–1810) (Swiss, b. 1941) he spent the rest of his life. With Albin Uldry no prior training, he spontaneously 15. Night (Swiss, b. 1932) began making artwork, inventing 1805 Offset lithograph his own pictorial language. He Philipp Otto Runge produced more than two dozen (German, 1777–1810) Printmakers: Johann Adolph Darnstedt (German, 8. In case enormous and elaborate handmade 1769–1844) and Ephraim Gottlieb Krüger books that, through drawings, (German, 1756–1834) collages, and musical notations, Facsimiles narrated and illustrated his fictional Runge’s Times of Day series are considered monuments of German a b autobiography and imagined travels. Wölfli produced hundreds Romanticism. They represent the of single-sheet compositions for arrival and departure of light and, sale, which he called Bread Art. His by extension, the organic process extraordinary work was forgotten of birth, growth, decay, and death. after his death but rediscovered in Runge developed a highly personal 1945 by Jean Dubuffet, the artist iconography across this series that and champion of art brut (raw or was celebrated by his contempo­ outsider art). ­Szeemann exhibited raries, including Johann Wolfgang Wölfli’s work inArt of the Mentally Ill von Goethe. Geographies 9 10 11 Szeemann’s interest in distant Geographies coun­tries and cultures was evident 8 from an early age: a series of bound 12 notebooks dating back to his high A school years compose an exquisitely 7 executed geography assignment. 6 In his most elegant calligraphy, the future curator describes nations B and cultures around the globe and 5

illustrates them with hand-drawn B maps, flags, costumes, topogra- 3 phic features, and charts of demo- 4 graphic statistics. His fascination with foreign places and customs evolved into a passion for travel, 2 which dove-tailed seamlessly with his chosen profession. Szeemann’s monumental accumulation of air­line- 1 issued luggage tags attests to the extent and frequency of his global travels. This lifestyle upset Szeemann’s mother. In a letter Grandfather: dated April 29, 1968, she ex­­pressed A Pioneer Like Us concern about not only her son’s 1974 / 2018 continued cigarette smoking and proclivity for whiskey but also his preference for using his British passport over his Swiss one (Szeemann held dual citizenship through his British-born father). His mother questioned, in partic- ular, the legality of his 1967 trip to Cuba to attend, at the invitation of artist Wifredo Lam, the Salón de Mayo, where he collected political Fabbrica Rosa tracts and books about the Cuban Revolution.

Entrance

Screen 1. Slideshow of images from Harald b. Szeemann’s High School Szeemann’s exhibitions, 1991–2005 Geography Notebook ca. 1948–1952 Notebooks, Harald Szeemann

Passports, Cuba c. Szeemann’s High School 2. In case Topography Notebook ca. 1948–1952 Harald Szeemann

a d. Szeemann’s High School Project c d on Mexico ca. 1952 b Harald Szeemann and Hans Frank Scheurer

3. Je Pense Donc Je Suisse a. Drawing of Australia, in 1992 Szeemann’s High School Geography Ben Vautier (French, b. 1935) Notebook Screenprint ca. 1948–1952 Harald Szeemann 4. In case Wifredo Lam f. Floor Plan Sketch for the (Cuban, 1902–1982) Exhibition Austria in a Net of Roses Typescript letter ca. 1996 a a a b c d. Poster Commemorating the Harald Szeemann Ink on paper Second Declaration of Havana a a a on February 4, 1962 c c 1962 8. In case a a a Printed paper

f. Verde Olivo, vol. 8, no. 28 a Havana: Dirección Política de las Fuerzas a. Szeemann’s Train Passes Armadas Revolucionarias, 1967 d e c f 1967–1983 Szeemann collected a number of b political journals and print materials b. Szeemann’s British Passport during his trip to Cuba. Issued 1968

6. Suiza no existe c. Szeemann’s Swiss Passport a. Catalog for the Exhibition Issued 1952 1992 Epicenter Ljubljana Ben Vautier Mika Briški, editor c. Letter to Szeemann from (French, b. 1935) Ljubljana: Moderna Galerija Ljubljana, 1997 His Mother Screenprint April 29, 1968 These are the two posters that b. Letter to Jason Rhoades Julie Szeemann-Kambly artist Ben Vautier designed for the 27. Oktober 1998 Typescript letter Swiss Pavilion curated by Harald Harald Szeemann ­Szeemann for EXPO ’92 in Seville, Typescript By 1967, the once-prestigious Salon Spain. ­Szeemann’s pavilion ­presented Szeemann first saw the work of de Mai (May Salon), an annual a ­heterogeneous country lacking Jason Rhoades in Zurich, visited him contemporary art exhibition held in a common language, culture, or in Los Angeles, and then included Paris, had lost much of its European ­artistic style, a point referenced by his work in exhibitions in Ljubljana, audience to documenta. The organiz­ the poster, “Suiza no existe” (Switzer- Lyon, Appenzell, Venice, and Zurich. ­ers decided to move that year’s exhi- land does not exist). “Je pense donc Rhoades visited Monte Verità with bition to Havana, Cuba, which, follow­ je suisse nods” to the philosopher Szeemann in 1998. The “spiral in your ­ing the Cuban Revolution, had taken ­Descartes’s “I think, therefore I am” belly” mentioned in this letter refer­ on mythic proportions as a center of and the Swiss ethos of neutrality. ences ’pataphysics and the spiral intellectual life. belly of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi (King Many of the artists and curators who 7. In case Ubu). attended the Salón de Mayo saw it as a gesture of solidarity with the Cuban c. Artists’ Names Drawn in the people, countering the “cultural a c e Shape of a Fountain for Blood blockade” by the United States. Over & Honey: The Future Lies in the the course of one long July night, Balkans more than eighty artists worked b d f ca. 2003 to­­gether on a collective mural that Harald Szeemann manifested the revolutionary spirit of Ink on paper both the country and the exhibition. a. Catalog for the Exhibition d. Catalog for the Exhibition 5. In case Visionary Switzerland Visionary Belgium: Harald Szeemann, editor It Happened Near Us Aarau: Sauerländer, 1991 Harald Szeemann, editor Brussels: Fonds Mercator, 2005 b d b. Floor Plan Sketch for the e. Floor Plan Sketch for the a f Exhibition Visionary Switzerland Exhibition Visionary Belgium: c b ca. 1991 It Happened Near Us Harald Szeemann 27. Juli 2004 Ink on paper Harald Szeemann Ink on paper a. Portrait of Harald Szeemann c. Brochure for the Swiss Pavilion at with Cuban Hat and Cigar EXPO ’92 in Seville, Spain Visionary Belgium was Szeemann’s 1967 1992 final exhibition. He fell ill a few months Photographer: Balthasar Burkhard Harald Szeemann before it opened and passed away Gelatin silver print Basel: Messe Basel, Task Force Sevilla, 1992 during its installation. a note at the bottom of this floor plan reads “But d. Sketch for the Wallpaper Design b. Photograph and Commemorative there is still so much to do! Goodbye Used in the Swiss Pavilion at Stamp of the Collaborative Mural Harald.” Painted by the Artists Attending EXPO ’92 the Salón de Mayo ca. 1992 f. Catalog for the Exhibition 1967 Harald Szeemann Photographer: Alberto Korda Ink on paper Visionary Belgium: Gelatin silver print It Happened Near Us Printed paper e. Catalog for the Exhibition Harald Szeemann, editor Brussels: Fonds Mercator, 2005 Austria in a Net of Roses c. Letter of Invitation to the Salón Harald Szeemann, editor de Mayo in Cuba Vienna: Springer, 1996 10. Juni 1967 9. Travel Sculpture, Luggage Tags from Szeemann’s Travels Fabbrica Rosa Grandfather: ca. late 1960s–2004 Harald Szeemann Interior Panning Shots of the Mixed media Fabbrica Rosa, Szeemann’s Archive A Pioneer and Library 10. Poster for 22 Young Swiss 2011 Like Us 1969 12 Min Produced by the Getty Research Institute Following the conclusion of his Offset lithograph exhibition in 1972, One of the final projects during Szee- documenta 5 Over the course of his long career, Szeemann found himself with no mann’s tenure at the Kunsthalle Bern, Harald Szeemann built unparalleled commission and no immediate 22 Young Swiss was curated by Edy archival collections that were prospects. Undaunted, he began de Wilde, from Amsterdam’s Stedelijk astonishing in breadth and depth. He to curate an exhibition in his apart- Museum, with input from Szeemann, described them as part of a Museum ment. who introduced de Wilde to a number Grandfather: a Pioneer Like Us of Obsessions. Szeemann amassed (1974) examined the fascinating life of local artists. Szeemann included files on more than 22,000 artists, of Szeemann’s grandfather, Étienne this poster from the project in several including ephemera, correspondence, Szeemann, an inventive hairdresser of his later shows, including the Swiss artworks, and other materials. More and wigmaker who had developed his Pavilion at EXPO ’92 in Seville, Spain. than 50,000 photographs document own permanent wave machine. Part his projects, exhibitions, and the artist’s museum and part surrealist 11. Poster in English and Albanian artists with whom he was associated. experiment, the exhibition used the for the Tirana Biennale 2 His library contained more than possessions of Szeemann’s grand- 2003 25,000 volumes. This footage father – more than one thousand Harald Szeemann Chromolithograph documents Szeemann’s archive and objects – to produce a series of Szeemann was invited to participate library in Maggia, Switzerland, in dynamic and surprising juxtaposi- as an artist (rather than as a curator) 2011, prior to its transport to the Getty tions that simultaneously explored by the organizers of the Tirana Research Institute. the contours of his grandfather’s Biennale in Albania. In response, biography, the migrations of people he produced this poster, featuring across Europe and the course of wars artist Jean Dubuffet’s musings on in the twentieth century, the develop- the essential characteristics of ment of hairdressing as a parallel Switzerland. modernism with its own visionaries and avant-gardes, and the essence Screen of curating itself as a creative and 12. Remembering Harry, 2017 meaningful activity. Documentary video, 8 min 9 sec Szeemann retained most of the Produced by IMAGE and CONTENT / Reto Caduff for the Getty Research Institute objects from the exhibition within his archive. The Getty Research Insti- tute, in collaboration with Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, has produced a full-scale reconstruction of this exhibition as A. Letters from artists to Harald part of Harald Szeemann: Museum of Szeemann Obsessions.

B. Photographs and video documenting the installation of the Grandfather exhibition Kunsthalle Düsseldorf gGmbH Grabbeplatz 4 40213 Düsseldorf Tel. +49 (0)211 89 96 243 Fax +49 (0)211 89 29 168 [email protected] www.kunsthalle-duesseldorf.de

Director: Gregor Jansen

Managing Director: Ariane Berger

Curators: Dana Bergmann Anna Brohm Jasmina Merz Anna Lena Seiser

Assistant Curator: Raphael Nocken

Press and Communications, Education: Dirk Schewe

Assistant Press and Public Relations: Katharina Sawatzki

Assistant to the Director and Education: Claudia Paulus

Administration: Lumnije Sturr

Head of Installation Staff: Jörg Schlürscheid

Building Services: Arno Götzen

The exhibitions are funded by

The Kunsthalle Düsseldorf Permanent partner is funded by Kunsthalle Düsseldorf