Venice Biennale
20% of reasons NOT to be at the Venice Biennale.
20% of reasons not to be here - I found this list on a huge wall at the Giardini in Venice and it introduced me to the world of art and its politics in a whole new way. Visiting an art exhibition was a once in six months thing for me (before my MA). Most of my art knowledge comes from western books and the beautiful internet. So the Venice Biennale was an explosion in my head, and to represent it I choose the image below:
Its also interesting to look at the history of the event.
Francisco Bassim
Francisco Bassim. Gran Interior, 2011. Acrylic on canvas. dimensions variable. Photos by Aditi Kulkarni. Venice Biennale June 2011.
Francisco Bassim's humorous work at the pavilion of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Giardini.
Crystal of Resistance
'But art is not resistance to something. It is resistance as such. Art is resistant because it resists everything that has already existed and been known. Art, as a resistance, is assertion, movement belief, intensity, art is 'positive.' Art resists tradition, morality and the factual world. Art resists every argumentation, every explanation and every discussion.'
Crystal of Resistance is a work by Thomas Hirschhorn. Below are a few lines from the catalogue where the artist talks about his philosophy on art:
'But art is not resistance to something. It is resistance as such. Art is resistant because it resists everything that has already existed and been known. Art, as a resistance, is assertion, movement belief, intensity, art is 'positive.' Art resists tradition, morality and the factual world. Art resists every argumentation, every explanation and every discussion.'
The artist uses the crystal as a repeating motif, transforming the gallery space into another world. I felt as if I'd been transported into a parallel universe, inexplicable and fascinating. The use of everyday objects such as ear-buds, brown tape, mirrors and mobile phones gives the entire work a surreal and disconcerting mood.
The Heard and Unheard
'By constructing an "architectural music-space...made possible by the microphone," Music While We Work explores how artistic practice can intervence in the social space of labor production at the intersection of history and everyday life.'
At the Taiwan pavilion, artists' Hong-Kai Wang and Yi-Hsien Su created soundscapes that transformed the way I look at how sound can be used in installation work. Hong-Kai Wang's work especially connected with my attempts to use sound to comment on Mumbai's atmosphere and culture. She says,
'By constructing an "architectural music-space...made possible by the microphone," Music While We Work explores how artistic practice can intervene in the social space of labor production at the intersection of history and everyday life.'
Hong-Kai WANG. Music While We Work. Huwei, Yunlin, Taiwan. 2011. Audio and video installation. Video still by Yann Tonnar. Courtesy Hong-Kai WANG.Taiwan pavilion at Venice Biennale 2011. [Press Release].
Music While We Work by Hong-Kai Wang. (2011). Installation photo by Aditi Kulkarni. Taiwan pavilion at Venice Biennale 2011.
In addition to these two artists the sound bar had a wide variety of independent music and sound compositions from Taiwan to sample and enjoy.
Sound Library Bar design by Kuo-Chang Liu. Taiwan Pavilion. Venice Biennale 2011. [Press Release].
Sound bar library at Taiwan pavilion. Photo by Aditi Kulkarni. Venice Biennale 2011.
Sound bar library at Taiwan pavilion. Photo by Aditi Kulkarni. Venice Biennale 2011.
'I think the most important and uninvestigated architectural music-space of our time is the imaginary space made possible by the microphone...a space that does not exist in any form in any place in the everyday world.' (Ashley,r. 2009 cited in Hong-Kai Wang, 2011. p.17)
In her artist statement Hong Kai Wang quotes American avante-garde composer Robert Ashley, and I found these lines especially relevant. My aim is to transport the audience to Mumbai, my hometown and I agree that this relation between sound and essence of place, though immensely powerful is often ignored.
Reference: Hong-Kai Wang. (2011). Music While We Work. Venice: Palazzo Delle Prigioni. Notes: The Heard and the Unheard: Soundscape Taiwan. The Exhibition of theTaipei Fine Arts Museum of Taiwan. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum of Taiwan. Curator: Amy Cheng. Artists: Hong-Kai Wang Yu-Hsien Su.
Cracked Culture? Contemporary Chinese Art
Cracked Culture? The Quest for Identity in Contemporary Chinese Art. Curators: Wang Lin (China), Gloria Vallese (Italy). Organizer: Guangdong Museum of Art, China. Photos by Aditi Kulkarni.
Cracked Culture? The Quest for Identity in Contemporary Chinese Art. Curators: Wang Lin (China), Gloria Vallese (Italy). Organizer: Guangdong Museum of Art, China. Photos by Aditi Kulkarni.
Jiao Xingtao. The Powerful Dragon. 258X38X170cm. Mixed Medium. 2011.
Shi Jindian. Blue 750. Coloured Fibre in Stainless Steel. 260X170X120cm. 2008.
Gao Yang. Jingzhe. Mixed Medium. 210X85cm. 2010.
Gao Yang. Mixed Medium 2011. Mixed Medium. 150X120cm. 2011.
Detail.
Ying Tianqi. Memory Loss. Mixed medium. 122X130cm. 2007.
Resi Girardello/ Vanas-Omnia Vincit Vanitas. Work with spun copper enameled in various colors and sizes, metal structure. 200X180X90cm. 2009.
Ying Tianqi. Traces of the Vicissitudes. 2011.
Ying Tianqi Resurrects the Life of Yore in the Old City on the Spot: "In China, when the bulldozers were marching like an army across the ancient city of Wuhu where I spent my childhood. I determined to shoot the record of this dramatic change with my video camera. Before the old city was demolished, I set my video camera at a sport shooting a street of neibhourhood and the life of a household from dawn till midnight for 12 hours. The same day a year later, that place had turned to ruins, and I played the video on the spot showing the life of people there a year before, both times of which happened to be the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival."
Future Pass
"Over 100 artists, both Asian and non-, offer a kaleidoscopic panorama of a new aesthetic paradigm currently proliferating from Asia to the rest of the world. Crossing genres and disciplines as they appropriate the digital culture of the 21st century, artists working in this eclectic new aesthetic are generating new types of relationships to the globalizing world."- Excerpt from the Short Guide distributed at the exhibition. Future Pass - From Asia to the World. Collateral Event Biennale Arte 2011. June 4th - Nov. 6th 2011.
Kaikai Kiki/Chiho Aoshima. 1974-. Little Carefree, The Chicken Girl. FRP, Lacquer. 33X20X53 cm. 2008.
Yan Shi Lin. 1982-. What's the Matter. FiberGlass Paint. 2010.
The word 'kaleidoscope' is an accurate description of this brilliant collection of work by a wide range of artists from across asia and the world. I spent hours here and didn't regret it for a moment (we had only 5 days to see the entire Biennale). If anyone asked me what the best thing to see in the Biennale was, it would be Future Pass. Several of the artists were also around when we visited, which made it an unforgettable experience.
Andre Saraiva. 1971-. Mickey Wiagra. Polyester Resin, Strattee a structure - skeleton frame. 198X140X125 cm.
Xiang Jing. 1962-. I am 22 years old, but without my period. Fibre glass painted. 30X155X95 cm.
Ward Walrath Kimball. 1914-2002. Untitled. Drawings on found posters. Sizes varied. Made in the 1960's.
Victor Xu Weina. 1981-. (animamix.net). Magician. Fiberglass paint. 50X22X22 cm X3. 2009.
Kea. 1980-. A Salute to Fashion. Acrylic on Canvas. 162X130cm. 2011.
Wang Mai. 1972-. Using wisdom to capture the oil monster #12. Mixed material. 160X100X200 cm. 2011. [detail].
Qu Yi. 1985-. Kiss Me Hard. Series of photographs.
Liu Ye. Miss, 2008. Acrylic on Canvas. 140X160 cm. Private Collection.
Li Hui. 1977-. Motor-Inherent Danger. Acrylics, LED Lamp, Stainless steel. 240X50X50cm. 2008.
Yoko Toda. 1944-. Unknown Ideal. Video. 2009, 2011.
David Chan. 1979-. Feeding the Stupid Monkey. Oil on Linen. 150X180 cm.2010.
Cao Fei. 1978-. RMB City. Since 2009. Internet Project. RMB City is developed by Cao Fei & Vitamic Creative space. Facilitator: Uli Sigg. Courtesy of Artist and Sigg Collection.
Grimanesa Amoros. Uros Island. 414X340X66cm.
Untitled Installation by Mu Lei. Video projection on a bathtub.
[Future Pass - From Asia to the World. Collateral Event Biennale Arte 2011. June 4th - Nov. 6th 2011. The UNEEC Culture and Education Foundation Taipei, The Today Art Museum of Beijing, The Wereldmuseum of Rotterdam, The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, In Collaboration with the Fondazione Claudio Buziol of Venice, curated by Victoria Lu, Renzo di Renzo and Felix Schober].
The Walls of Venice
Photographs of graffiti and posters on the walls of venice, during the time of the venice biennale.
A few photographs of graffiti and posters during my recent visit to the Venice Biennale.