So on the plane back from Venice - the Biennale was wondrous as ever with the Arsenale a more focused experience. I have a new set of images that
will furnish new presentations at NUA and Camberwell. My head is full of images
and moments that will keep me thinking for some time - the pavilion covered in
tyres, the rebuilding of a familiar space as an interventionist minimal
architectural event, Canada's 'shop', the sci-fi image of future space
possibilities, being held hostage in a virtual reality studio, the violence of
the South African pavilion leading to the idea of Goya making work from edited
found CCTV footage of fighting and sexual activity in clubs, the many themes of
oppression explored including the lost hope of the environment and private
homosexual acts made public, a giant Russian fighter pilots head, terrorist
breast feeding, hope in Latvian garages, a choir of engine noises in a novelty
fun ride, a sad fair ride, Dellar's 'factory records' jukebox, the idea of
flowers silently witnessing massive socio-political events, a room of
staircases, windows of rain, a factory workers 'opera' in Beijing, a room of
corn, the negative space of an imaginary building, an anchor the size of a car
embedded in broken sheet glass, a room of shredded money, a room of blue sand,
the loss of people and their languages, a room of dirt, flags their meaning
obscured, crafts used to say 'something', a room of broken glass, games without
rules, a book of photographic memories I tore open, the Olympic torch running
in a Brazilian prison, a naked red woman dancing in an office, a bullet caught,
a room of knives, mapping connections, documenting hope, Umberto Eco seeking
out a book from a book lined labyrinth and getting me to think about memory -
what is a list?
But my highlights have to be 5 film pieces all embedded within
installations. Martyr construction by Theaster Gates https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=
