Visiting Venice and furthermore the Biennale, is a difficult way to make a living, but someone has to do it. So with heavy hearts, Kostadinos and Myself decided to go there and see whats going on this year, and this is how it went. At 11:00am we are at the Giardini di Biennale, the main entrance to the exhibit. Considering the gruesome task that lays ahead of us, we quickly decide to chill out for an espresso and some careful planning before we start (even though it ended up being 3 espressos and no planning at all). So, unprepared but very much awake, we were off!
The exhibition is titled ILLUMInations and features 83 artists from all over the world, and 89 National Participants. Unfortunately it is impossible to discuss them all, however, you can find a detailed description of each participants work in the official Biennale website. Having said that, there were some that caught our eye in particular, such as The Uk pavilion by Mike Nelson called 'I,Impostor', the Korean installation 'The love is gone but the scar will heal' by Lee Yongbaek and my personal favourite, the French installation 'Chance' by Christian Boltanski.
'Chance' describes the concept of luck and fate in newborns and how their existence is subject entirely to chance. The installation consists of a steel piped structure supporting a moving loop of paper with newborn faces printed on it. Every now and then an alarm is sounded and one of the moving faces is projected on a large screen. When you enter, the sound of the loop with the clanking of the steel gives you the impression that you are in a factory that produces humans. An ironic feeling to have in an installation representing chance over control.
As we continued towards Arsenale (the second location of the Biennale) we come across more fascinating art, the amount of work is overwhelming but all worth seeing. Such as Song Dong's Para Pavilion located in the entrance of Arsenale. Song has recreated his old family home and community using 100 salvaged architectural fragments such as doors wardrobes, and room dividers. Creating an environment that explores both his autobiographical history and the postmodernism of contemporary china.
Clearly there are many things we can go on about, but we hope our snap shots are enticing enough to grab your attention and hopefully motivate you to get there yourselves.
Its already been nearly 7 hours since we started and being pressed for time we decided to visit Fondazione Prada located in the Ca' corner which once housed the venice biennale archives. There, we had the chance to see Anish Kappoor's void field, Damien Hirst's 'loving in a world of desire' and a beautiful exhibit by Louise Bourgeois called 'cell (clothes)'. Moving to the top floor we came across Jeff Koon's 'tulips'(also pictured above) and last but not least, the works of OMA studio.
By now its safe to say the espressos had worn out and a break was in order. Fortunately we were just a few canals away from Plazzio Grassi, and although that was closed by now, the hotel right next to it; 'Palazzina Grassi' was not! and neither was it's restaurant. Designed by Philippe Starck and featured in Delood some time ago it was clearly the right choice for the end of a truly great day.
Maybe now you can understand the cruel nature of our work and the sacrifices we go through daily to bring you the latest in the design world. Jokes aside however, please make an effort to visit because we are sure it will be a very fulfilling experience, and there are many artists that truly deserve your attention.
