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Venice Biennale Report | "WORLD CULTURE REPORT Vol.19"

Publiziert in public-image.org, July 29, 2011

Creators, editors, and writers who related in various ways become contributors at PUBLIC-IMAGE.ORG. Here comes “WORLD CULTURE REPORT” that delivers the information of hot creators from all over the world. On this time, Mr. KurandoFuruya who is an editor reports the art festival “Venice Biennale” in Venice, Italy. 

Text: KurandoFuruya

Hello, everyone. I am KurandoFuruya who is an editor.

I am an editor that usually deals with videos and graphic designs, but I arrogantly came to Venice Biennale. I don’t have words to talk about arts and know not many artists. But “Venice Biennale”, the biggest art festival in the world, is the party every one wants to go at once. My complex interest drives me to book the flight ticket. 

I could ride the staff bus with the consideration of Mr. Inoko Toshiyuki of teamLab, who was the one of a few Japanese artists attend Venice Biennale. I spent 3 days for press preview and was able to complete Biennale. Please enjoy this with the pictures taken by iPhone.

teamLab exhibited the video artwork “LIFE SURVIVES BY THE POWER OF LIFE” that was also reported our main site. 

teamLab, Calligraphy: Sisyu “LIFE SURVIVES BY THE POWER OF LIFE” (2011)

It has beendisplayed until November 6, 2011 in the “FUTURE PASS” satellite hall with Taiwanese and Chinese artists.

The First Day
As soon as we got Venice, we went to the hall directly because teamLab had to install their works.
BUT!!!! Their works and monitors were not arrived yet.
Mysteriously the waterbus route that usually is a foot of Venice was stopped the whole line for its strike even if that day was one day before the press preview of the Biennale.

The hall in where the works were not arrived yet was empty and had full of heavy calm air. I who am slightly not a related person can’t stand to stay, so I went to the Natural History Museum in the neighborhood. There was no visitor and no feeling of Biennale at all. The place was cool. The museum was the recommended place even though it wasn’t in a guidebook. 

Eventually, teamLab can’t install their work and finish their first day.

The Second Day
In the morning, it seemed there was something happened when I got to the exhibition hall. The story was the press pass that we could look around everything in Biennale weren’t handed out by a staff’s mistake. WHAT! It was going to be just traveling Venice until the end. It was the happening that made our goal upset from the base. I was embarrassing. After the staffs of teamLab kept complaining, we could get two passes that had the name of Chinese female artists. 

We wouldn’t care to be found out whether we were Chinese or Japanese, male or female as long as we are Asians. But we who related to teamLab including me were 4 people. After we do the rock-paper-scissors really seriously, Inoko and I went into the exhibition hall.

Because I had to give my pass to two members who were remained, I desperately looked around the exhibition. After I finished to wait on the long line for entering the exhibition, I have suddenly noticed something at the moment the barcode of my voucher. I went directly to the trashcan close to the entrance. It was right there. It was the voucher is for the press preview. The press pass of Biennaleis at the trashcan of the exhibition. This is a little knowledge of Biennale. (Currently the entrance fee is 20 euros.)

Venice Biennale is held once in 2 years. It has the three major exhibition form. The first one “Garden” is held on the main exhibition hall next to the En’nareStation. (It says a station but it is a waterbus.)

“Arsenal” is a historical shipbuilding area.

The festival itself is called Biennale and there is the station called Biennale. It’s very complicated. There are the National Pavilion that is organized by each country and the exhibition hall that is produced by the main director,BiceCuriger. (The title called an artistic director) It is exhibited with theme “ILLUMInations.”

Each county’s pavilions that tell the history of this modern art festival continuing over 100 years on the hall “Garden” were lined in the method of Expo. Representative artists of each country use all pavilions and show their skills. By the way, the representation of Japan was TABAIMO. Pavilion is certainly not only solo, but competent of numbers of artists.

Garden
Somehow the each country’s fever of arts is understandable to see the line on the hall “Garden.” There were long lines on America and England. Germany and France were also success. Japan was in good condition. By the way, Italy’s place in Arsenawas pretty much empty.

American’s pavilion had pretty much long line at the hall “Garden.” A person was running on the tank’s caterpillar that was installed upside down. 

After waiting about 30 minutes, there was the Olympic gold medalist were doing Gymnastics on woodcraft of airplane’s first class seat!

And an ATM with a pipe organ.

Disgusting. Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla’s works show disgusting parts of America. And the money was suffering.

The exhibition of France was Christian Boltanski. Pictures of baby’s faces were repeating on a rotary press machine surrounds the venue, and there was Montage of baby and adult at the back room. Countdown was made at the both left and right side of room. It was suggestive although I didn’t understand well.

While I was walking around the hall with full of green, I arrived to the main pavilion bigger than other places. There was an exhibition place by the main director, BiceCuriger. (The title called an artistic director)

First, Suffered pigeons lined up on the ceiling.

SigmarPolke who passed out last year. Acrylic plate on the wave is affixed on dot paintlike noise of the old copy machine. Cool~

There were full of ideas for helping life and interior.

This is a permanent, Café at the Biennale venue. Cool~. The interior was so vivid that it seems to be weak in sight if staying for long time. I would copy this~.

And the one that was awesome was Swiss. It was an odd space that was configured in garbage like aluminum foil, crackedbottle, magazines, and etc.Awesome~. It would be just a garbage room if I copied this. But these density, size, and equivalent. It’s crazy. Awesome. I would copy this~.

Above, it was the report of elementary student levelaboutBiennale “Garden” area. There were high quality pavilions in “Garden” area. If you want to feel the air of Biennale, you need to go here first.

At the second day’s night, I went to the Middle Eastern pavilion’s presentation with my t-shirt and short pants. I completely misread TPO and wanted to die. The palace…

 

The Third Day
Arsenal

Because of my scavenging on the second day, four of us would be able to enter the exhibition on the third day. The exhibition work of teamLab was installed yet, but the reception party of “FUTURE PASS” on the Satellite venue would be held on 6 o’clock in the afternoon. I was worried about as their friends, but there would be nothing to be solved even though I was waiting with them. So anyway I decided to leave “FUTURE PASS.” I went toward one more main place, “Arsenal.”

The place was used to be a large warehouse of shipbuilding field.It started from a really small entrance. It was indicated on water place instead of Biennale venue was surrounded by green. However, it was large after I entered the venue. There was the dismantling and rebuilding old house artwork by Song Dong.

 

An art booth that displayed Franz West’s drawings, photos, and trashes. This kind of things even became look cool if the place is big. I would copy it~.

 

And here is the movie work “The Clock” by Christian Marclay. It was conscious of the clock by cutting up from movies from all over the world, and it showed waiting people. After I watched for an hour, I was thinking that it was not going to be the end. As what I heard later, it was a long film of 24 hours. It would be shown at Yokohama Triennale on October 6. I would like to watch full of the movie.

 

This one is a huge candle work. By the time the session is over, even the trace would be gone.

Until here, it was perfect organized area by a curator. Of course, it had high quality average compared to the each country’s area.

There was demo of “FREE Ai WeiWei” in front of China pavilion. Chinese visitors were watching the demo.

I think it needs to be explained that Venice Biennale is mixed with good and bad things. Each country’s pavilions were organized by the curator who represented by the pavilion. So, there was more like a national trade fair than an art exhibition. The Italian pavilion lined up lots of their artists to crush the host county.

Satellite
The Arsenal and Biennale pavilionswere packed tightly, but there are the exhibition hallscattered around in the city of Venice. “FUTURE PASS” that teamLab participated was the one of them. Venice that has more than 100 years buildings everywhere looked great even though it was decorated with whatever. What a good infrastructure.

 

I forgot to take a picture while walking around the Satellite. Good one was good, and bad one was bad in the Satellite exhibition that participated in the town like a maze. The qualities were different because each country organized the exhibitions. 

“Punta dellaDogana” that built in the 17th century and has been repaired by Tadao Ando in recent year was full of modern artworks of star artists; Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Mike Kelley, SigmarPolke.

At the last night, all of us went to a club. It was amazing. Because Venice is historic landfill, the ground is small. The club was also amazingly small. So few clubs were all packed and packed. DJ was using MacBook to play music. The music didn’t play, so I looked after. Then iTunes was showed up. Venice was distorted.

Despite of the lower interest to local people, groups from around the world show off their big collection at the modern art museum. There were beautiful islands, historical town, and distorted amusements. It was weird but the only one in the world festival. I want to say, “See Biennale before die.”

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