Measuring 1.5 square kilometers in total, the Auepark or Karlsaue, so named after its patron Landgrave Karl of Hesse-Kassel, is the tautly composed, arch-symmetrical Baroque counterpoint to the sprawling, faux-natural Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe on the far western edge of Kassel. It is here that the Bundesgartenschau, or Garden Show, of 1955 was first organized, to which the first documenta was attached as little more than an afterthought or digression. Four art projects of varying material presences—some sonic, some architectural; some intrusive, some elusive—are scattered throughout the park, which has long been a key documenta site; the early-eighteenth-century Orangerie at its eastern edge, another of Karl’s building projects, also hosts documenta 14 works.
Karlsaue Park
Posted in Public Exhibition
