Writing about the Biennale as a whole is a feat worth
applauding! Now in its 58th cycle and featuring far over fifty
countries and hundreds of artists/works in all mediums in what is a huge, complex
art Olympics that is, for all its delights also quite exhausting! The central
pavilion’s theme, ‘May you live in interesting times’ is a fittingly ambiguous,
yet pleasingly all-encompassing, title for what is essentially the world
barometer for art, what’s hot and what’s not. Who, which themes and ideas will
be appearing in exhibitions near you! Save your applause, however, because instead
of trying to cover it all, I have focused instead on the things that were most
memorable or had resonance with me. In a vein-attempt to make some sense of it
all (in no particular order) is my personal ‘unconventional’ top twenty-one of
the ‘must see’ experiences this Biennale.
Arsenale
Ceramic sculptures used to create unusual sound-based
installations. Intriguing to watch how these pieces moved as it was to listen.
Unable to use their right arm due to a neurological disease,
Darling creates assemblages from ‘small, low-cost, everyday materials’. In
‘March of the Valedictorians’ red school chairs on impossibly long spindly legs
teeter precariously whilst supporting one-another as a whole group. Humorous
and playful.
‘Robert’ is a neon sculpture representing the skeleton of first
African-American astronaut, Robert Henry Lawrence Jr who died in a training
accident in 1967. This piece is part of a body of work Strachan has made around
the story of Lawrence’s death in working in conjunction with SpaceX. The work
raises awareness of Lawrence’s achievements as the first African astronaut as
well as the racism encountered around the incident of his death and why,
figures such as Lawrence should not have remained invisible in history for this
long. Given the 50 years milestone since the moon landings, this collection of
work gains added timeliness that leaves a lasting impression.
Image sourced from: https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/pics-from-the-biennial-part-1-1540588
In a three-channel film titled, ‘Four Nocturnes’, British
director, Akomfrah uses natural history and
archived footage edited alongside shots of characters contemplating,
motionlessly. Unmistakably recognisable in its editing and beauty of
photography present the concept that humanities destruction of the natural
world is ultimately also a destruction of ourselves.
Image sourced from: https://www.lissongallery.com/news/john-akomfrah-presents-four-nocturnes-video-installation-at-venice-biennale
50,000 handmade leather ‘pods, line lit fabric walls in Al
Ghamdi’s immersive and interactive installation ‘After Illusion’. Viewers are
invited to touch and explore the work with their hands to seek out interactive
sounds triggered by placing a hand inside a correct pod. Leather being used as
the primary material relates to craft within Saudi Arabia and title from an
Arabic poem about ‘the struggle to remember home after being away for 20
years’. The other worldliness of this installation does go some-way to
achieving just that.
One of the several artists exhibiting in the Indian pavilion
for this Biennale, Irana’s piece titled, ‘Naavu (We together)’ consists of worn
and altered padukas (wooden footwear) which line the walls. Each one uniquely
altered or adorned with objects (possibly from their previous owners) and
symbols that are significant of various spiritual connotations within Indian
history or culture. I have always liked objects, ephemera that tell a story of
its owner and I like the possible connotations and narratives that seeing these
shoes conjure.
The piece, ‘Island weather’ by Justiniani is a work that
must be experienced to be best understood. Viewers can step on top of a series
of clear-topped, island-shaped platforms containing objects housed by mirrors.
The effect is one of looking down to what appears to be infinity. Half a
ladder, a stack of papers are in fact the reality but when placed in these
mirrored containers appear, to the viewer standing above, to continue downwards
forever into a black endless nothingness below. It is genuinely quite
disconcerting but impressive at the same time.
Image sourced from: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/review/venice-biennale-2019-the-must-see-pavilions-in-the-arsenale
Gardini
For anyone who routinely feels compelled to wipe all the
condensation off of steamed-up bathroom mirrors, the plight of Yuan and Yu’s
robotic arm that ends with a shovel as it attempts to scrape back an endlessly
encroaching red liquid to within a circular area will be highly relatable.
Mesmerising in its almost human/animal-like size the giant arm might be one of
the most videoed works in this year’s Biennale but it is also one of the most
compellingly watchable.
Denmark pavilion’s dystopian sci-fi film offering titled,
‘Heirloom’ ruminates on life, memory and identity after ecological disaster.
Shot in black and white its otherworldliness and themes such as nostalgia,
explored reminded me of Tarkovsky’s, ‘Stalker’.
Image sourced from: https://www.idoart.dk/kalender/larissa-sansour-heirloom-danish-pavilion-la-biennale-di-venezia-2019
An architect, an artist and a composer are the creative
disciplines behind the Japanese pavilion installation that tells the story of
‘Cosmo-Eggs’. Essentially the work consists of photos of boulders, sound and an
inflatable egg-yolk yellow central seating area connected by a series of sound
cables, like umbilical cords. I struggled to see the point of all of this until
I had read the allegory on the wall (see below) which helped contextualise the
work and was a refreshing insight as an alternative creation-myth for the
Japanese islands. For me personally it reaffirmed that the Biennale doesn’t
have to always be a looking-forward or comment on current life but can be an
exploration of traditions and storytelling, re-imagined for new audiences.
“A long time ago, sun
and moon descended to earth and laid a single egg. A snake came and swallowed
the egg, and so sun and moon visited earth once more to leave behind three eggs
that they hid: one inside earth, one inside stone, and one inside bamboo. The
eggs soon hatched, and born were the ancestors of three islands. Once grown up,
they each built a small boat and travelled to different islands: one in the
East, one in the West, and one in the North. The tribes of these islands
visited each other by boat, and despite occasional fights, they overcame
pestilence and poor harvests to live in peace for a long time. Each island
passed down its own language, its own music, its own traditions, its own
festivals. They each possessed the power to speak with the animals: the earth
tribe spoke with the worms and the insects, the stone tribe with the snakes,
and the bamboo tribe with the birds.”
An inside-out luxury aircraft is the central piece to this
year’s Polish pavilion. In reversing the aircraft the artist is attempting to
criticise the ‘rich elite’ and inequalities of capitalism. Somewhat ironically,
if this piece, as ‘art’ (and sold as art) then feeds back into the rich elite
it is trying to challenge. All of that aside it is a fascinating piece to
explore visually and out of curiosity.
Venice Pavilion
A mysterious but compelling queue of people beckons closer
inspection of the Venice pavilion, revealing an embodied experience experienced
by no more than 8 people at a time. Stepping from the heat of the Gardini into
what is a life-size, inflatable tube with water underneath is a remarkably welcome
and cooling experience (not to mention slightly hap-hazard) as it is basically
like walking on the world’s longest and biggest waterbed (or imagining of
intestinal tract)! It is an unashamed spectacle in which the viewer becomes
participant in its existence as a piece of art.
Offsite
If you see one offsite exhibition during this year’s
Biennale, Dysfunctional should be it. Featuring 21 artists from the Carpenter’s
Workshop Gallery who have made work in response to the architecture of the Ca’d’Oro
and its collection of Renaissance art. It is refreshing in its lack of pretentiousness
as it seems to celebrate really well-made, visual but still thought-provoking
pieces as a much welcomed break from the depth of intensity needed in digesting
many of the other Biennale shows. Shown here: Maarten Bass 'Real Time XL' (2019) a recorded twelve hour performance involving painting, removing and repainting hands on a clock-face. And the Vernoeven Twins 'Moments of Happiness' (2019) glass giant bubbles.
Self-portraits of the artist and 70 gloss painted-used tyres make the
components of Mexican artist, Morales’ exhibition at the Ca Ressonico Gallery.
This assembled collage of stuff which includes dinosaurs (why not) aims to,
“challenge our perceptions of texture, touch, beauty, solace and violence”. I
struggled to engage with how all of these elements came together, personally, but from a
purely aesthetic and debatably shallow perspective enjoyed seeing so many
coloured tyres as an installation.
Eila Yenlysarja –Various locations
The Biennale’s best kept secret (one you won’t find in any
of the guidebooks)! Yenlysarja’s weathered, textured surfaces and palimpsests
materialise themselves around the city in various locations. A celebration of
beauty and purity in surface and form. I could look at these all day long!
The Biennale can
be seen across locations in Venice until November 24th
Previous Posts about the Venice Biennale can be read here:
2017 - http://spannerintheworkz.blogspot.com/2017/07/viva-venezia.html
2015 - http://spannerintheworkz.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-always-believed-in-futures.html
2013 - http://spannerintheworkz.blogspot.com/2013/11/venice-biennale-2013.html
Images (except where specified) and text copyright of
Natalie Parsley ©
