into the deep

Soo.. its been a pretty hectic week.
The Singapore Pavilion averages 300 visitors per day.. which is brilliant yet stressful.
I find myself running around and trying to stop people from picking up pieces of broken porcelain from Jason's chandelier. It is absolutely ridiculous. And there is also the odd idiot who tries to jump around in the sound dome.

Oh and we also have the token pavilion drunk. I plan to learn his name at some-point.. but he has proven to be the most devoted of all the visitors. His morning itinerary goes like this.. a twenty minute survey of the exhibit.. and a 15 minute wash in the bathrooms. Can't bare to kick him out.. I think he genuinely loves the space. And the free toilet facilities.

Joel Smoel.. partner in crime and marvelioso docent is away today.. showing The minister for health, SMS Balaji around the Arsenale.

I had my play date with the minister, his wife and a few MICA girls yesterday. It was rather exhausting. Mr Balaji is a machine. He insisted on seeing all 30 pavilions at the Giardini. Was very impressed by his stamina.. and slightly overwhelmed from just too much visual stimulation- fried the surviving braincells not already taken by the chianti.

The Giardini is a funny place. The ground is covered with gravel and many of the Pavilions look like Mausoleums. Bordering on ostentatious...well not nearly as bad as the massive Cruise Liners docked on the Grand Canal a few yards away. However, the area is cool, lined with stunning trees and generally quite green. Some of the Pavilions were built when the Biennale first started in the 19th Century, and others were built more recently. Each one tries to echo the character of the individual country. Hungary with its almost Byzantine like exterior.. and Israel tucked right next to the American Pavilion.

The International Herald Tribune reviewed this years Biennale as subtle bordering on bland. Seeing as I don't have any past experiences with the VBiennale to cross reference with. I am going to make my own review of the Giardini experience.

The Italian Pavilion, which was curated by Robert Storr was interesting. Interesting in the sense that it was a brilliant introduction to few dozen artists I had never been exposed to. However, some bits of the exhibit seemed more like an Art Gallery rather than a curated show for an Arts Festival. All in all a tad bit lifeless. But I guess that is one of the underlying factors to the Venice Biennale, a platform for artists to garner more buyers...which sort of tarnishes the altruistic reasons to this exhibition..but at the end of the day.. an artists has to eat.. especially the good ones.

Robert Storr's theme of, 'think with the senses and feel with the mind' was a bit weak-in my personal opinion. I understand what he wanted to get at.. the union of the mind and body through using art as a catalyst. Nevertheless, I fully enjoyed most of what I saw- As individual pieces rather than journey through a story made by the curator. Some of the video's sort of threw me off.. but i did love Tabaimo's piece which showed these giant hands filling up a dolls house- then scratching the walls away due to some insatiable itch..showing some sort of human body within the 'bones' of this house.

I was blown away by Sigmar Polke.. and this is not due to all the hype surrounding his work... I genuinely loved how his all his pieces have this dark, moody metallic sheen to it. The methodology involved to get that effect is absolutely fascinating. Like an alchemist, Polke experimented by mixing numerous metals and chemicals just for the color produced by the oxidization of the metals on the canvas. In regards to the paintings in the Pavilion, he was partial to using arsenic to bring out the colors in them. Just too wicked for words.

I was disappointed by Louise Bourgeois painting. I am a big fan of her sculptures.... but this particular painting which, consisted of a tight group of individual squares of canvas filled with criss-crossing blue lines.. with two random figures placed in the middle - stirred nothing in me.

Sol Le Witt's two works were detailed and beautiful.. as was this artist I can't remember the name of.. who is from the Congo. Damn.. will get back on that one.

As to the French pavilion.. I had a blast in it. Growing up with a mother who works in the profession of empowering and healing women (she is a obstetrician) I have always been attracted to things promoting the feminist ideal (spice girls.. loved it.. the female eunuch.. just bought the book). The echibit was based on reactions of a 100 different women to a break-up letter that Sophie Calle (the artists) received.. it was brilliant. The exhibit consisted of videos of the reactions.. or drafts of the newly interpreted letter hung on the wall. There was an Indian Carnatic dancer, a crossword setter who re-worded it, a parrot that eat it, a marks woman who shot it.. a therapist.. a judge.. and the list continues. It was all pretty amusing- and received a ton of giggles. The exhibit has the potentiality of making a few men uncomfortable..but it was in essence a celebration of diversity and individuality (and maybe a undisguised 'screw you' to the man who broke up with Calle). I don't think the Singaporean delegation were too impressed- which is understandable. The range of Contemporary Art is pretty much limitless.. and it takes a lot of imagination and 'lubing' of the logical mind to fully appreciate the impact or meaning to whatever is presented.

David Altmejd work for the Canadian Pavilion was like walking into a surrealistic lucid dream. Distorted yet fantastic glittering birds, shards of mirror, mushroom, bears, man-beasts..gold.. trees..bizarre contraptions.. and a mix of dreamy colors rising from the floor (i think the medium for that was plasticine) was a complete visual treat. Altmejd was trying to convey the disjointedness and artificiality of society, through his installation. Gothic-esque and brilliant. The Dali enthusiast in me was pleased.

The British Pavilion and German Pavilion.. in a word.. was shit. It was apparent that tracy emin did no work for the British Pavilion. It was a retrospective of her older works.. smacked in the space. Her stylishly nailed bundle of sticks was the only vaguely interesting thing in there. The rest of her works looked like kiddy sketches of naughty body parts... and the usual self-obsessed blabber of the various injustices she had faced in her life. Nothing new and as usual-incredibly uninspiring. As for the German pavilion.. Isa Genzken exhibit called Oil.. based on the future of petrodollars.. was vague and pretty random. With nooses hanging from the ceilings..gremlin like things with space masks.. and a collection of random suitcases. It was hard to grasp what she was trying to convey.

The Russian Pavilion.. was WICKED. One of my favorites. It was all based on media and technology.. and its adverse effect on us. The Animated- Film of a bunch of half naked teenagers prodding each other with knives was nothing special..maybe a bit weird and nonsensical. Nevertheless, it was one of the only pavilions where the curatorial theme echoed throughout all the works.

Romania's pavilion was also impressive.. they obviously didn't spend much money on it (seeing as it was called Low-Budget Monuments).. but there was this Moody Eastern European gravitas to the works, which appealed to me. The Polish Pavilion was cleverly done. It was this de-constructed framework of a building within the building of the pavilion.

I haven't seen Arsenale yet.. but I would not rate the Biennale as bland. Contemporary Art is The New World to me.. and a lot of what I have seen has been pretty fresh and out-there. Its exciting yet the only thing sagging is the feeling that one is strolling through an art gallery instead of a pavilion. Don't they have other events like Art Basel to appease the itchy buyer?

Ok enough with this pavilion blabber.

The coolest thing of this week was Da Wu making my hand a part of his installation. He has recorded me rolling rice off a banana leaf. You can't see my face in the video.. however the chipped neon pink nail-polish (and the brown hand..i guess) is a big give away.