Every five years, documenta turns the sleepy German city of Kassel into an international bastion of high art tourism. This year, the renowned exhibition's 12th incarnation boasts over 500 artworks by more than 100 artists and spans seven large venues — including one in Roses, Spain. Conceived by artistic director Roger M. Buergel and curator Ruth Noack, documenta 12 eschews a singular theme in favor of "radical formlessness." Instead of canned interpretations, viewers are provided with three questions to ponder in connection with the works on display.

The exhibition's artists manifest a range of conceptual and material approaches. The sleek, minimalist sculptures of American John McCracken contrast markedly with a selection of small mandala paintings from earlier in his career. German artist Cosima von Bonin's installations encompass Rorschach tests, oversized stuffed animals, and hanging lengths of bamboo; her Austrian neighbor Gerwald Rockenschaub's offerings include a stack of monochromatic carpets in different colors and sizes as well as an enormous inflated cube. Kerry James Marshall, whose intense acrylic and collage portraits seem to appear around every corner, also presents a recent series of comic strips entitled Dailies (Rythm Mastr) that explores perspectives on quotidian life in black America. Some of the most extraordinary drawings in documenta 12 find inspiration in the everyday. Annie Pootoogook's pencil, crayon, and ink compositions depict the vicissitudes of modern Inuit existence, from the menace of a polar bear to the media presence of Jerry Springer. The obsessive, overlapping lines of Pakistani artist Nasreen Mohamedi's drawings are seen in her diaries as well, and Japanese artist Tanaka Atsuko's calendar shows meticulous pencil drawings made during a prolonged hospitalization. More humorous are the childhood sketches of Austrian Peter Friedl, which resonate unmistakably with his current, mature work.

The photographs at documenta 12 are decidedly political and confrontational, such as KwieKulik's images of domestic playgrounds that challenged the stifling atmosphere of '70s socialist Poland. Not quite photojournalism, South African Guy Tillim's chronicle of the Congolese struggle for democracy highlights the margins of major events, while Dutch artist Lidwien van de Ven probes friction between East and West through juxtapositions of ambient imagery with densely populated group scenes. Elsewhere, video and performance works almost steal the show. Veteran choreographer Trisha Brown's Floor of the Forest creates a live interplay between dancers' bodies and structural installation. Perhaps documenta 12's most decisive tour de force, Bosnian artist Danica Dakic's El Dorado video features a group of disadvantaged youths performing their stories before a magical panorama in Kassel's German Wallpaper Museum. Insightfully evoking the global via the local, this piece alone makes a trip to Kassel worthwhile.

-SK