It all depends on the windʼs direction and force. When the wind blows upwards, the Zwehrenturm transforms into a chimney and reminds me of a factory—the art market as industry. But the billows of smoke also form a connection to the clouds in the sky, like an alliance. When the wind blows downwards, the Fridericianumʼs tower looks like a house in flames, covered in wads of smoke—we hear muffled sounds of fire engine sirens far afield. Later, after the smoke sank, it settles near the ground, and haze spreads. The smoke whispers the building’s past to the audience, it tells about these dark moments in history, not so long ago, of banned books burning at its doors, and a library eliminated.
Expiration Movement is a work by artist Daniel Knorr, located on top of the Zwehrenturm in Kassel. On April 8, 2017, white smoke appears in Kassel, inaugurating the exhibition opening of documenta 14 in Athens. The smoke marks the duration of the exhibition in Athens and Kassel, during the opening hours in Athens, for 163 days.