3. 5
Ideally, the artists should have an important position
in our society as free and independent minds that can
produce vital reflections about sociopolitical condi-
tions of the time we live in.
Unfortunately many times artists’ critical and impor-
tant reflections are being used or misused for other
purposes such as promotion of products, gentrifica-
tion, and cultural colonialism. In that case, the unique
role of the artist, as the one independently and criti-
cally reflecting our society, becomes a simplified and
bounded function with a purpose and task dictated by
others.
The only way the artist can avoid that his/ her role
becomes a function is by constantly questioning the
structureshisorherartisbeingpresentedwithin.Bien-
nales and big-scale exhibitions like Documenta should,
as the most influential contemporary art structures,
be a natural object for investigation.
The necessity for questioning the structure
- a text by Tijana Miskovic
DocumentaisconsideredtobeaVaticanofcontempo-
rary art today, carried by a belief in the critical poten-
tial of art. Documenta promotes itself as the optimal
art platform for critical thinking and political postures,
which is why decision makers and intelligentsia of the
art world, pilgrimage to Documenta in search of latest
tendencies. Documenta and other big art events such
as Venice Biennale have thus an enormous interna-
tional impact and a great power to influence the pub-
lic opinion. This influence should be evaluated by par-
ticipating artists as well as the audience, who should
not only absorb the messages communicated to them
through the curatorial strategies, without being skep-
ticalabouttheirmotivation.Theyshouldnotfallasleep
but be critical and constantly question the structure.
A show labeled as “critic show” can give the public a
feeling of being critical, but it can, at the same time,
be drawing the public attention away from big and se-
rious issues that authorities don’t want to create critic
4. 6 7
around. There could be a diversion taking place in the
curatorial choose.
Curating goes hand in hand with filtration. Certain
topics, artworks and artists get highlighted as cen-
tral while others get a peripheral position or even go
unmentioned. Furthermore curating always includes
an educational element, which facilities learning and
achievement of knowledge, values and beliefs. The
person or the institution teaching would naturally also
have the power to shape the knowledge and thus be
in a superior position. The choice of content and the
methods is influencing the interpretation of the artis-
tic message and the receivers are being led in a prede-
fined direction of thinking.
Faking the intention can be another method for diver-
sion also used in the world of contemporary art. Often
a profile based on inclusion and interaction is being
created in order to give an image of openness. Most of
the contemporary art exhibitions are thus considered
open, good and even humanistic platforms and are
as such wrapped in a certain kind of unquestionable
goodness, which keeps the critique away.
imposed censorship coming from specific authority,
and thus more sophisticated and complex one, which
often has an even stronger control effect.
A “critic show” can thus be a setting for fake criticism
that gives us an illusion of being critique and having
the freedom of thinking when we, in reality, are direct-
ed in a certain direction controlled by external forces
and often interests of economic or political nature.
This fake criticism within the contemporary art today
could be the source of apathy in our society. If the
lack of real concern or interest in making a change in-
filtrates the art community, and what we consider to
be the avant-garde force in our society falls asleep,
we might risk that our world takes a direction of nar-
row-minded and almost totalitarian thinking.
Since 1988, Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL has been
questioning big staged art events like biennales, art
fairs, and Documenta, with critical art formats such
as BIENNALIST – an art format that responds to and
questions, through artworks the motivations of bien-
nials and other global art events. He looks into the art
events and their motivations asking questions such
as: Could 860,000 visitors have been intoxicated by
A delay in contemporary art could also be seen as a
diversion strategy. Even though we believe that the
contemporary artists should react on the important
issues and emergencies of today’s world, we are not
giving the artists appropriate platforms for immedi-
ate expression and impact in time. The artists cannot
show art connected with the pulsing and unpredicta-
ble present, since all the exhibited artworks have to
be defined, produced, and explained in advance. Either
because of the practical and curatorial planning or be-
cause of a wish to control and have a possibility to cen-
sure, most of the contemporary exhibitions are from
the beginning in delay.
To navigate within these contemporary art struc-
tures, the art institutions, the artist and the art think-
ers are furthermore recurrently victims of an ongoing
self-censorship. The self-censorship makes it difficult
to reach the authentic and honest artistic intention.
What is exhibited is just one part of the story while the
other, at least as important, part has been auto-cen-
sured. Auto-censorship is more difficult to localize or
fight then the direct censorship, since it is an embed-
ded control function the contemporary art is carrying
in the DNA of its structure. It is more invisible then
an apathetic gaze that keeps them away from react-
ing? Are global art events designed to make people
cry about something in order not to make them see
something else? Is there a strategy for being delayed
in order to create a distraction from the present and
avoid debating important topics of today? If the most
important contemporary exhibitions in the world like
Documenta focus solely on past- or few present relat-
ed issues contextualized by curators or art historians,
how can we then expect art to be avant-garde?
For decades artists have questioned the canvas, the
pigment, and since the1960-70s conceptual artists
like Marcel Broodthaers have questioned the structure
of the museum which led to Institutional Critique in art
with artists such as Daniel Buren, Andrea Fraser, and
Hans Haacke. With his art format BIENNALIST, Thierry
Geoffroy/ COLONEL questions the global art events.
Hetakesthethemeofeachbiennialseriouslyandstud-
ied in order to contribute to the debate the biennales
want to generate. The artist is with this format often
on-location testing the pertinence of the biennales.
In 2007 Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL did a project
called “The Next Documenta should be curated by a
5. 98
car” and “The protest school”. In 2012 The BIENNAL-
IST project was respectively supported by the ZKM
Museum Museum of Contemporary Art for conducting
operations at the Athens Biennale curated by Nicolas
Bourriaud and by the Sprengel Museum for operation
done at the Venice Biennale.
In dOCUMENTA 13 he realized the project “The Emer-
gency will replace the contemporary” which got a
strong attention in the media and among art critiques.
With a UN blue helmet as an artistic metaphor for inno-
cence, Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL appointed himself
to be “a peace-war researcher” and discovered the
enormous presence of an active weapon industry in
documentaßtat Kassel. The message was communi-
cated as text on a tent placed under the Joseph Beuys
tree on the lawn in front of the Fredericianum just af-
ter the press conference June 6th, 2012. The tent
with a statement “THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE
THE CONTEMPORARY” was removed and confiscated
by the dOCUMENTA organizers. Ironically enough this
kick started, the same days, a growing occupy move-
ment dOCCUPY, that made a tent encampment in the
same area and which was welcomed by dOCUMENTA
13 curator.
From March 30th to June 24th, 2017, Thierry Geof-
froy/ COLONEL, lookes closer into the Documenta 14
and VeniceBiennale 2017 in the exhibition#documen-
tasceptic, on location, in a specially designed online
platform and in the gallery SABSAY in Copenhagen.
dOCUMENTA (13) - June 6th 2012
6. 1110
“THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”; 3 kilos, 230 cm x 170 cm; spray paint on
tent; in the art collection of Museum for Contemporary Art - Roskilde - Denmark; 2012; Statements
on each side: “THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”, “FÜHRUNG, GUIDANCE AND
NAVIGATION IS A THREAT”, “THE CONTEMPORARY IS ALWAYS TOO LATE”
7. 12 13
“THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”; 3 kilos, 230 cm x 170 cm; spray paint on
tent; 2012; Statements on each side: “THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”,
“FÜHRUNG, GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION IS A THREAT”, “THE CONTEMPORARY IS ALWAYS TOO
LATE”; in the art collection of Museum for Contemporary Art - Roskilde - Denmark.
9. “THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEM-
PORARY”;3kilos,230cmx170cm;spraypainton
tent; 2012; Statements on each side: “THE EMER-
GENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”, “I
AM NOT WORKING FOR THE TOURISM OFFICE”,
“ART IN DELAY CAN NOT HAVE IMPACT”, “THE
CONTEMPORARY IS ALWAYS TOO LATE, NEVER
IN TIME”
12. 22 23
“THE NEXT DOCUMENTA SHOULD BE CURATED BY TANKS”; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint
on tent; 2012; Statements on each side: ”FAKE CRITICS CREATES APATHY”, “THE NEXT DOCUMEN-
TA SHOULD BE CURATED BY TANKS”, “CAN ART BE IN ADVANCE OF THE ARM”, “ART DISTRACT YOU
FROM REALITY”
13. 25
“THE NEXT DOCUMENTA SHOULD BE CURATED BY
TANKS”; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint
on tent; 2012; Statements on each side: ”FAKE
CRITICS CREATES APATHY”, “THE NEXT DOCU-
MENTA SHOULD BE CURATED BY TANKS”, “CAN
ART BE IN ADVANCE OF THE BROKEN ARM”, “ART
DISTRACT YOU FROM REALITY”
14. 26 27
“DOCUMENTA FAILLED TO DEBATE ABOUT WAR”; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent;
2012; Statements on each side: “DONT CENSURE DOG WATCH ART”, “DOCUMENTA FAILLED TO DE-
BATE ABOUT WAR”, “ULTRACOTEMPORARY ART IS THE FUTURE”, “KNOWING WHAT I KNOW MAKES
ME A MONSTER”
15. 28 29
“DOCUMENTA FAILLED TO DEBATE ABOUT WAR”; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent;
2012; Statements on each side: “DON’T CENSURE DOG WATCH ART”, “DOCUMENTA FAILLED TO
DEBATE ABOUT WAR”, “ULTRACOTEMPORARY ART IS THE FUTURE”, “KNOWING WHAT I KNOW
MAKES ME A MONSTER”
16. 31
“DOCUMENTA IS DANGEROUS BECAUSE IT HIDES
THE REAL EMERGENCIES LIKE THE TANKS”; 2,2 ki-
los, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; white
spray paint on tent; 2012; Statements on each
side: “DOCUMENTA IS A FLEA MARKET NOT ABLE
TO REFLECT ON TODAY EMERGENCY”, “IS DOCU-
MENTA IN KABUL TO SELL TANKS”, “DOCUMEN-
TA IS DANGEROUS BECAUSE IT HIDES THE REAL
EMERGENCIES LIKE THE TANKS”
18. 34 35
“ALWAYS QUESTION THE STRUCTURE”; 2,2 kilos, 200cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2015;
Statements on each side: “ALWAYS QUESTION THE STRUCTURE”, ”IS DOCUMENTA IN ATHENS TO
SELL TANKS FROM KASSEL”, “ULTRACONTEMPORARY”.
19. 36 37
“ALWAYS QUESTION THE STRUCTURE”; 2,2 kilos, 200cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2015;
Statements on each side: “ALWAYS QUESTION THE STRUCTURE”, ”IS DOCUMENTA IN ATHENS TO
SELL TANKS FROM KASSEL”, “ULTRACONTEMPORARY”.
20. 38 39
“WHAT DOES DOCUMENTA WANT TO EXPORT”, ; 2,2 kilos, 200cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent;
2015; Statements on each side: “WHAT DOES DOCUMENTA WANT TO EXPORT”, “ULTRACONTEM-
PORARY”, “THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”,“CAN POETRY BE FRONTAL”
21. 40 41
”LA PLUIE N’ABOLLIRA PAS LES QUESTIONS”; 2,2
kilos, 200cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2015;
Statements on each side: “LA PLUIE N’ABOLLIRA
PAS LES QUESTIONS”, “INNONDE PAR L’INSPIRA-
TION”
23. 44 45
“CAN THE REVOLUTION BE SELFISH”; 3 kilos, 230
cm x 170 cm; spray paint on tent; 2015; state-
ments on each side: “CAN THE REVOLUTION BE
SELFISH”, “NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”
“ART= RETARD”; 3 kilos, 230 cm x 170 cm; spray
paint on tent; 2015; statements on each side:
“THERE IS NOT A GOOD BIENNALE WITHOUT BIEN-
NALIST”, “ART= RETARD”
25. 48 49
”I COMMITTED SELF CENSURE”; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2013; statements
oneachside:“ISCLIMATECHANGESTILLANEMERGENCY“,“ICOMMITTEDSELFCENSURE”,“SHOULD
ARTISTS QUESTION THEIR COMMISSIONERS”
26. 50 51
”IS CLIMATE CHANGE STILL AN EMERGENCY“; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2013;
statements on each side: “CAN A NATION WELCOME ANOTHER NATION”, “IS CLIMATE CHANGE
STILL AN EMERGENCY”, “IS ART FLEXIBLE”, “DEMANDING PALACE”
27. 52 53
”IS CLIMATE CHANGE STILL AN EMERGENCY“; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2013;
statements on each side: “CAN A NATION WELCOME ANOTHER NATION”, “IS CLIMATE CHANGE
STILL AN EMERGENCY”, “IS ART FLEXIBLE”, “DEMANDING PALACE”
28. 54 55
”NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2013, statements
on each side: “THE EMERGENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”, “IS AMBIGUITY THE NORM
HERE”, “ARE BIENNALE DANGEROUS”, ”NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”
29. 56 57
”KNOWING WAT I KNOW MAKES ME A MONSTER”;
3 kilos, 230 cm x 170 cm; spray paint on tent;
2013; statements on each side: “NOW BEFORE IT
IS TOO LATE”, ”EMERGENCY VENICE”, “KNOWING
WAT I KNOW MAKES ME A MONSTER”, “THE EMER-
GENCY WILL REPLACE THE CONTEMPORARY”
31. 60 61
“ARE BIENNALES DANGEROUS”; 2,2 kilos, 200 cm
x 140 cm; spray paint on tent; 2015; statements
on each side: “ARE BIENNALES DANGEROUS”,
“NOW IS NOW”, “NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”
33. 64 65
Welt Online, June 8th 2012 Journal of curatorial studies, June 8th 2012 Artribune, Reportage Documente2013, July 14, 2012art Das Kunstmagazin, November 11, 2011
34. 66 67
Kunstforum, 2015 C&, Reportage from 55th Venice Biennale 2013 Huffpost, May 30, 2013 SV1, Reportage from 55th Venice Biennale 2013
36. 70 71
Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL has been using tents sin-
ce 1991. Tents can be both looked at as paintings and
as sculptures. The artist uses the sides of a tent as a
canvas for painted statements. After, each tent be-
comes a mobile sculptural object. Some of Thierry Ge-
offroy/COLONEL’s tent artworks have been exhibited
in The Maldives Pavilion, Venice Biennale, IT; The ZkM
Museum, Karlsruhe, DE; Marta Herford - Museum für
moderne Kunst, Herford, DE; Kunsthalle Osnabrück,
Osnabrück, DE. The tents are also in the collection of
Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark as well as pri-
vate collections in Paris, Copenhagen, and São Paulo.
Thierry Geoffroy/ COLONEL’s artistic praxis is driven
by the vision of creating awareness about dysfuncti-
ons in the world through art. He has since 1988 been
working with art formats that can support the pro-
duction and presentation of artworks produced in the
now. One of the earliest formats Ultrafast gave the
setting for a line of exhibitions that were changing in
different ways. Either they were moving in space, for
example exhibitions on clothes of people who are mo-
ving; or they where changing the same place but with
new artworks daily replacing the old ones.
This ultrafast pulsing way of working has not only to
do with speed, but also with time. This is why the ar-
tist later introduced another term Ultracontemporary,
which links more to the notion of time and carries on a
criticalpositioningtotheestablishedunderstandingof
contemporary art. Contemporaneity is an interesting
phenomenon because it forces us to make a connecti-
on between us and the time. Con –tempo (with time) is
alluding some kind of togetherness or closeness to the
present moment. To express with time (Con –tempo)
would thus mean to express while you are still with in it.
Today’s understanding of contemporary has become
so open that it basically covers all kinds of art made in
Tent on the roof, Nancy 1978
Tent on the roof,
Nancy 1978
and after 20th century, or art made and produced by
artists living today independently of its pertinence for
the present moment. By using the word Ultra and crea-
ting a new term Ultracontemporary, the artist brings
the focus to the time aspect and insists on contempo-
rary being in the now.
Apart from the speed and time Thierry Geoffroy/ CO-
LONEL also focuses on the content, which has to be
in the now too, relating to what is happening in the
world at the moment. There are many burning topics
EMERGENCY ROOM,
Moma PS1, 2007
that need to be addressed on the spot before it is too
late. The artist calls this kind of art Emergency Art. It
is art produced by artists who are alert, who recognize
dysfunctions and grab the most urgent ones that can-
not wait to be expressed about. This way of working
includes ranking of emergencies. Like in a real hospital
emergency where the doctor would have to priorities
between the different patients based on the level of
emergency.
