The simply stated, but underlying complex, proposition “The Next Documenta Should Be Curated by an Artist” in reality seems to beg the question: “Should the Next Documenta Be Curated By an Artist? This is due to the fact that its premise sets forth a condition that is without historical precedence. The real issue may be: Why are we at the (necessitated) point –in time of asking such a question — or playing with this equation — in order to form this proposition?

Usually questions are asked to bring about clarification: to remove a state of confusion, or to seek what is not yet known. But this question seems antithetical to that definition. It seems to demand that its object becomes its subject and that its condition becomes an imperative: An Artist Should Curate the Next Documenta. The question may be initiated out of a state of frustration or confusion rather than a search for amplification and clarification. It sets forth the underlying premise that a state of imbalance has been reached: it questions power, in order to undermine power.

Instead, I would propose that there are other questions to engage first, ones with historical precedent. These could give focus to such eternal concerns as shifts in power, challenges of existent roles, and the possibility for the relocation and/or position of one’s abilities and talents.

FOR EXAMPLE:

SHOULD A MUSICIAN BECOME AN ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR?
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) composed exceptional symphonies and lieder cycles; however, during his lifetime he was mostly known as a great conductor. He originally rose to prominence not through his music, but as the musical director of the Vienna Opera. He finished his conducting career in the United States, serving with Toscanini as conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, and then on his own as music director of the New York Philharmonic.

SHOULD A POET ESTABLISH A BOOKSTORE AND BECOME A PUBLISHER?
During his adolescence, Lawrence Ferlinghetti became an Eagle Scout, but also joined a street gang known as the “Parkway Road Pirates.” He was arrested for petty theft, and many of his early years were spent living the life of the “Beat.” However, he is now recognized as one of the most influential and important poets of the Beat Movement. He cofounded (with Peter Martin) City Lights bookstore, in San Francisco. He not only established this landmark independent bookstore, but he also became a publisher specializing in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics.

SHOULD AN ARTIST BECOME A GALLERIST?
During the 1980s, Peter Nagy’s artwiork was widely exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. Yet in 1982, he chose (with fellow artist Alan Belcher) to open Gallery Nature Morte in New York City. Nagy moved to India in 1992, and he resurrected Nature Morte in New Delhi in 1997, as an itinerant gallery and a curatorial experiment. In recent years this gallery has become synonymous in India with challenging and experimental forms of art; it champions conceptual, photographic, and installation genres within a commercial market that remains deeply conservative. In addition to this work as an artist and curator, he has written for magazines such as Artforum, Flash Art, and Art India and is the South Asia coordinator for the Geneva-based NGO Art for the World.

SHOULD AN ARTIST BECOME AN ARCHITECT?
During the past four decades Vito Acconci’s poetry, performances, films, videos, installations, and public sculptures have been in the vanguard of contemporary artistic practice. Now his architectural designs developed through the Acconci Studio seem to have emerged organically from his earlier ideas about language, the body, and space. A focus on permanent public commissions gave rise to the Acconci Studio, a place where each work is meant to challenge and reinterpret the everyday reality of a given site.

SHOULD A PAINTER BECOME A FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR? Julian Schnabel achieved prominence as a painter and sculptor during the 1980s. He became one of the leading figures of the movement termed “Neo-Expressionism,” which rebelled against the cool Minimalism of much ‘70s modernist art. However, he chose to turn his artistic focus to screenwriting and film directing, with “Basquiat” (1996) and “Before Night Falls” (2000), the latter based on the life of Cuban novelist and poet Reinaldo Arenas. His second feature film achieved recognition when it was awarded both the Best Actor Award and the well-deserved Grand Special Jury Award at the 2000 Venice Film Festival.

SHOULD A THEORETICALLY POSITIONED ARTIST BECOME A HOLLYWOOD FILM DIRECTOR?
Kathryn Bigelow originally trained as a painter. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. She worked as an assistant to Vito Acconci and later joined the British collective Art and Language. Now she is an acclaimed feature film director, having directed movies including “Point Break” (1991) and “Near Dark” (1987).

SHOULD AN ACTOR BECOME A FILM DIRECTOR?
Rip Torn attended Texas A&M, majoring in animal husbandry, and the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied architecture and drama. He became a well-known actor, one who is usually identified with appearing in offbeat films or playing highly unusual characters. Although he has maintained a successful acting career, he attempted a directorial debut when he helmed Whoopi Goldberg’s comedy “The Telephone” (1988). The actress attempted to prevent the release of this film.

PERHAPS EVEN MORE PROFOUND EXAMPLES ARE:

SHOULD A FILM ACTOR BECOME THE HEAD OF THE NRA?
As a brawny, virile, classical actor, Charlton Heston left a mark on the last fifty years of Hollywood filmmaking with roles such as Moses in “The Ten Commandments” and the lead role in “Ben Hur. ” At the NRA’s 1997 annual meeting, however, Heston was a last-minute surprise addition to the board of directors of the National Rifle Association. In 1998 Heston was elected president of the NRA. Film director Spike Lee has been quoted as saying the National Rifle Association should be disbanded and NRA President Charlton Heston should be shot “with a .44-caliber Bulldog” magnum pistol. However, in May 1997, Associated Press reported that Spike Lee signed a deal with the U.S. Navy to make six recruiting commercials.

SHOULD A CITIZEN RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFICE?
Lech Walesa was the son of a carpenter. After graduating from vocational school, he worked as an auto mechanic (1961–1965). He took up the position of electrical engineer in the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk, Poland, in 1967 and emerged as an anti-government union activist, frequently arrested (1976–1980) for his dissident activities. Later, Walesa chaired the Interfactory Strike Committee and on August 31, 1980, he signed an agreement with Mieczyslaw Jagielski, Poland’s first deputy premier, which gave the workers the right to organize freely and independently. In September 1981, he was elected Solidarity Chairman at the First National Solidarity Congress in Gdansk. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. In December 1990, Walesa was elected President of the Republic of Poland.

SHOULD AN ACTOR BECOME THE POLITICAL LEADER OF A COUNTRY?
Ronald Reagan attended Eureka College, where he studied economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays. After graduating, he became a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood, where during the next two decades he made 53 films. As President of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan became embroiled in disputes over the issue of Communism in the film industry. His political views then shifted from liberal to conservative. In 1966 he was elected Governor of California. On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office as the President of the United States of America. He won a second term in office with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. In foreign policy, Reagan sought to achieve “peace through strength” and at the end of his two terms in office, Reagan is known to have viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his program known as “The Reagan Revolution.”

SHOULD A BODY BUILDER BECOME A GOVERNOR?
Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a broad range of career successes in athletic competition, film acting and directing, and business ventures. During President George Bush’s administration he served as Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He sees athletics as a positive alternative to drugs for urban youth, a way to build self-esteem, a way to learn how to set goals and build camaraderie while following a clean lifestyle. His blockbuster films include “The Terminator” and “Conan the Barbarian.” In 1993 the National Association of Theater Owners named him “International Star of the Decade.” He is a patron of the arts and an art collector. In 2003 he was elected Governor of the State of California, in the United States.

IN CONCLUSION, WHY NOT HAVE AN ARTIST CURATE THE NEXT DOCUMENTA?
In positing this question, why do we choose to use such generalizations in order to make the next, new, general (the role of the leader/curator) of the next Documenta? What artist should be chosen? With what purpose in mind? What is currently lacking within the present construct? Perhaps there has been an “abuse of power, that comes as no surprise.” That causes this question to be raised: Would appointing an artist as curator change the equation or rectify the situation? Perhaps the question should be: Should the Next Documenta Be Curated? Or even, Should There Be a Next Documenta? What else could constructively be done with the money that now goes into each creation of this exceedingly large enterprise? Since there have recently been considerable cutbacks in arts funding in many countries, could we now make a direct investment in our artists? Should we instead establish a type of “World Wildlife Fund” for artists, where funds would be evenly distributed to artists in order to prevent the endangerment of their species? Shouldn’t the necessary goal of the artist be an increasing dedication to her/his artistic growth and the expansion of her/his chosen means of expression and insight — not one of gaining the leadership of a territory, which is to be occupied, lost, or sold?