A Bad Place?

In 1972, Art & Language came to Kassel for the first time. Invited by documenta 5, they showed an epoch-making work that marked a turning point for their collective practice and the history of Conceptual Art in general. Fifty years later, in 2022, they reappear in the city, this time with a work attached to a building housing some of the documenta Institute's staff. This time it says only "A BAD PLACE." These are far fewer words than in 1972, but definitely no less food for thought!

These three words have already appeared from London to Berlin, from Basel to Montsoreau on an elegant poster, a wall-sized drawing or a tote bag. In more monumental fashion, the label has also appeared in the middle of the courtyard of a French Renaissance chateau that houses the world's largest collection of Art & Language works. More recently, just before it came to Kassel, it became a large red and white banner displayed in the heart of Paris, at the Invalides / Musée de l'Armée, Paris. In the meantime, the three words have become associated with a research site where members of the documenta Institute are studying the history of exhibiting, including the "exhibitability" of a (seemingly) dematerialized art, Conceptual Art. From art galleries to museums, private collections to academia, Art & Language, with a peculiar sense of serious humor, continues its critical efforts involving both the host institution and its audience.

As one of the initiators, Prof. Dr. Felix Vogel, puts it about the artwork, "A BAD PLACE" is high-contrast and visually aggressive, directly challenging the viewer: Why is it a bad place? Who decided that? What is the bad thing about this place? Is it Kassel, the university, the documenta institute, the building itself? Does it refer to the art world as a bad place? Or rather to the knowledge economy of which the university is a part? When and why did this place become bad? Does the slogan actually name the building? Should we go inside, protest, or just avert our eyes? But then, where is the good place? Once we manage to distance ourselves from a first-level moral reading, we realize that confronting this work leads us to take an investigative position toward the place, but also toward our own reflections, expectations, and even desires."