Burckhardtstrasse | Nabuurs&VanDoorn

Burckhardtstrasse | Nabuurs&VanDoorn

Die Burckhardstrasse (2007) presents a series of minimal interventions during Documenta 12 (Kassel) in which Nabuurs&VanDoorn pay tribute to Lucius Burckhardt. Lucius Burckhardt proposed the theory of ‘Strollology’ (the science of strolling), and also coined the term ‘minimal intervention’ in an essay on Furk’Art. A minimal intervention is a temporary artistic gesture that, without changing landscape itself, changes the perception of that landscape for passers-by; a notion that Nabuurs&VanDoorn use regularly in their projects. In their own minimal interventions performed during Documenta 12, Nabuurs&VanDoorn renamed the streets between the two main venues ‘Burckhardstrasse’ in order to seduce the visitors of the official event to walk away from the white cube into public space.

Through a series of filmed minimal interventions the project Die Burckhardtstrasse presents a route for visitors of Documenta 12 that sets an example how to walk and act between the different sites of the biennale. The artists felt the necessity to do this after becoming aware that the organisers of the biennale wanted visitors to take special Documenta buses between the venues. Since Kassel is where Lucius Burckhardt invented and taught his theory of Strollology, Nabuurs&VanDoorn wanted to raise awareness among visitors that a walk between venues would give them the references needed to contemplate the artworks they just witnessed. Through these actions the artists criticize the biennale for being a UFO landing upon Kassel without providing local context.