How to Occupy Retreat: dOCUMENTA (13) from Kassel to Banff

This article examines the aesthetico-political preoccupations and linkages between dOCUMENTA (13)’s four positions (‘on stage’ in Kassel, ‘under siege’ in Kabul/Bamiyan, ‘in a state of hope’ in Alexandria/Cairo, and ‘on retreat’ in Banff). Complemented by personal vignettes, the discussion moves between the conditional positions and the impact of the Occupy Movement as well as the contiguous notions of retreat and residency. It concludes by considering dOCUMENTA (13)’s proposition of occupying, or taking up residency in spaces as well as in objects and images, and investigating the possibility for art’s direct political engagement.