In a dark and potentially overlooked basement corner of the Neue Galerie at Documenta I found this:
That's not neon text. That's a heat coil. Moreover, that's a heat coil with a pulse. I was simply able to process the waves of heat turning on and off in approximately 20 second intervals -- extreme and quick fluctuating temperature.
It is incredible to have heat thrust at you at a pace. Catch and release with a violent 'click' sound instigating the on/off of the coil.
As I mentioned earlier, I hadn't heard of a majority of the Documenta 12 horde. Gonzalo Diaz is no exception. I've tried to come up with some information. This is what I've got: He's 60. He was born in Santiago. Thank you, Internet.
The problem here is the text. The heat coil is roughly translated:
"We search everywhere for the absolute and we always just find things."
What? Really? That's what you are going to leave me with? I mean, I sincerely love didactic bullshit, but this is a fortune cookie. It turns off so that you can't read it, then it turns on. Within a matter of seconds the room gets hot and we - presumably - just find things? Lots of them. In all the galleries. Everywhere else.
We can do better than this.
Diaz's other noteworthy installation posits a narrow degree ellipsoidal LEKO on one wall making a perfect round circle of light on the far wall. Nothing else is noticeable in the room and the focus is obviously the illuminated spot.
Not until the viewer interferes with the beam is a reveal sparked:
"You come to the heart of Germany only around the word art under your own shadow to read."
Okay.
Although I categorically loathe pieces that exist on a basis of a an audience interacting with them, I potentially was starting to trust Diaz's approach prior to my understanding of his utilization of text.
I know that text is hard. Really, really hard. But the formal elements here are smart. I want form that matches content! And when I talk about context I'm asking for more than the locale's native tongue. And other stuff. Please.
