Last but not least, let’s take another look at the documeta city of Kassel. Many works of art have remained here since the first art show in 1955. For example, the ICH monument. The pedestal made of red sandstone, on which ICH is written in capitals, was made by the Kassel stone sculptor Siegfried Böttcher according to the plans of the satirist Hans Traxler. The ICH monument is an invitation to each and everyone to rise up and feel unique. Unfortunately, there are more and more people who always carry such a pedestal in their heads and do not have the slightest doubt about their uniqueness. The selfie queen in the background of the photo seems to belong to this not so rare species.
We encounter monuments everywhere – when travelling, in the city, in the country, in museums. But what makes a monument? Who decides what we remember? No journey without a monument opens up a journey through the diversity of what people put on pedestals. In the city, the monuments crowd together: Monument and city shows how you can walk past a monument in Bamberg – and still become wiser. In the countryside, on the other hand, a single monument draws you in from afar: Monument in the countryside tells of the quiet magic of such places. Nature and Monument asks what happens when nature reclaims the monument. Where art and monument merge, the path leads to Kassel: Monument and art looks at the documenta city. And who is a monument themselves? Everyone is a monument – so claims a red sandstone pedestal in Kassel, on which “ICH” is written in large letters. Finally, Paris is rethinking the monument: whoever restores a forgotten, listed grave in Père Lachaise is then allowed to lie beneath it – Monument Seeks Heirs tells of a lottery procedure that combines monument protection and eternity.
