Installations Everywhere:Disorientation and Displacement in Jan Hoet's documenta IX

Referred to by its artistic director Jan Hoet as the ‘documenta of locations’, documenta IX (1992) was a colossal show. Amid the art, an extensive public program – which included jazz, boxing, and baseball, among other events – pervaded the city of Kassel during its periodic stint as a ‘Museum of 100 Days’. Any attempt to view all that comprised documenta IX would have resulted in a grueling, disorienting experience for the visitor. There was 'almost everything available' for Hoet’s show, and this meant a cacophony of works so loud it could easily drown out the individual voices of the artists involved. But were the artworks subservient to documenta IX’s labyrinthine spectacle?