veniceisstillthereasever

So Venice was where and how I left it. I'm always surprised and stunned by it. A truly amazing vibrant place, when you are there you continue to ask how can it exist? When you are gone you ask will it be there next time? And then there was the art. After 4 days at the Biennale looking, listening, and smelling art one is left with a lot to think about. One thing is that it becomes increasingly clear why authoritarian regimes and police states try to silence art and culture - (this includes the present UK government). The arts repeatedly speak truth to power, pointing out the governments distain for any opposition to their self-interested greed. Colonialism, representation, hierarchical thinking, craft skills. Every two years my art education is expanded, along with inspiration for the teaching I do. There is so much to mention but some stand out moments include Julien Creuzet’s extraordinary films and textile pieces in the French Pavilion. The oddly compelling opera by Wael Shawky in the Egyptian pavilion. The image of a young dead man created by using their own blood by Theresa Margolles. The haunting organ pipes held in a forest of scaffolding in the Italian Pavilion, the delicate blown glass of Michael Joo in the Korean Pavilion that celebrated their involvement in the Biennale. The beautifully slight interplay of fruit and water power generated sound, in the Japanese Pavilion. The glorious, excess of the German Pavilion. The stoic, thoughtful professionalism displayed in John Akomfrah’s work in the British Pavilion. Giant puppets displayed unconventionally with a drumming soundtrack in the Belgium Pavilion. A truly sensual dance for two people and a conjoined shirt by Kang Seung Lee. Other dance pieces one by Isaac Chong Wai about falling and a work exploring queer histories by Ahmed Umar were mesmerizing. The beautiful dialogue between Tintoretto and dyed cloth in Uruguay Pavilion by Eduardo Cardozo. The use of repetitive mark making, weaving and knit to celebrate cultures otherwise underrepresented was everywhere. Away from the Biennale the extraordinary show by Pierre Huyghe at the Punta della Dogana is full of wait-what-how moments. He has to be one of the most interesting artists making highly relevant work at the moment. The video Untitled (Human Mask) of the monkey/human abandoned in a deserted town has to be seen to be believed and let's not forget a crab 'wearing' Brancusi's head in a fish tank with floating rocks. Then there was the joining in of the mass celebration with football fans on Sunday night after their win - flares, fireworks, drums, giant flags, chanting, megaphones, utter madness. Getting boats in the dark out to Saint Helena just because you can, and of course the boat taxi from the airport channelling James Bond, quite possibly the coolest journey I ever make. The food..........can't wait to return. 

magicalspaces

So Venice Biennale was, as ever most excellent. I can never get over the fact that Venice is there just as I left it.... Where to start - it all begins when you get on the water taxi from the airport, arriving in this exciting way to the magical space of Venice is my favourite journey ever. Entering the canals from the choppy waters through the fortified external wall of the city and emerging in the Grand Canal is truly wondrous. Between then and getting back to the airport the time was spent with 3 days of art with time for eating and drinking after hard core experiencing. So much to say but highlights of the National pavilions for me were Marco Fusinato in the Australian just gloriously brutal. Yunchul Kim in the Korean space was awe inspiring art informed by science. The main exhibition had some beautiful paintings by Chiara Enzo and The Sex Robot video of Sidel Meineche Hansen had images of which will stay in my head for a long time. The monumental industrial narrative that was created for the Italian space was reminiscent of childhood wanderings through abandoned factories. Day two at the Arsenale is always a marathon, like joining 4 or 5 Tate's together. The historical work’s highlights were the medical models of Aletta Jacobs and Anna Coleman Ladd. The curated section had some gems that I am still thinking about – to name a few the graphic images of Beklis Ayon,  Egle Budvytyte’s video exploring our relationship to the environment, the startling paintings of Felipe Baeza and Pinaree Sanpitak, the smell of Delicy Morelos’s soil installation, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe’s striking prints, the disturbing video by Zheng Bo with men and the forest, the giant symbols by Solange Pessoa, Joanna Piotrowska’s seemingly domestic yes other photographs, Carolyn Lazard’s reimagining of objects, Luyang’s animated future, dogs on the loose in the video of Janis Rafa, the haunting video by Diego Marcon, and there is always Barbara Kruger. There was so much textile activity on display, a way for the artists to talk of globalization, capitalism, workers’ rights, and sexual politics among other issues. The Philippines had some excellent ikat weaving alongside sound pieces, resembling the noise of the looms the work was made on. Day three is about collateral events, which gives you the opportunity to walk through the city between extraordinary venues which is always wonderful. I can’t wait till the next time.

justwhereileftit

Venice felt like it was just where I left it - returning again for the Biennale and 3 intense days of 'art looking' the anticipation is huge but this year was one of the best in terms of the work. The heat meant lots of stops for reflection and refreshment which makes it a richer experience. The Pavilions were strong with some real standouts - Latvia, Australia, Nordic, Poland and Japan will stay with me for a long time. The curated show in the Arsenale was stunning - I felt held by the thinking behind the works, wonderful links were made between the incredible artworks all presented within a wooden structure that allowed for space and showed the work off really well. a quick review of it all starting with the national pavilions ........Swiss - film backwards is always good - Venezuela - Facebook masks - Russia - mechanical son - Japan - ethereal mystic egg - Korea- dancers out of place - German - constructed rocks - Canada - Inuit issues - England- artschool meaningful tropes - France - trippy boho - check/Slovak - old school geometry- Uruguay - scattered moments - Australia - power behind and in front - Nordic- organic digital - Denmark - sci-fi death - America - tasteful americana - Hungary photographing imagined cameras - Israel - medicalisation of abuse - Brazil - dance dance dance - Austria - old fashioned porno - Serbia - 1982 again - Egypt - I once saw a picture of Egyptian stuff so I made some stuff - Poland - total mind fuck - Romania - unfinished who cares - Greece - what - Holland - measuring sticks - Finland - growing simplicity - Belgium - mechanical folk weirdness - Spain - unseen spaces between - Lithuania- sublime beach opera - Albania - sci-fi chrome dystopia - Antigua - carnival explained - Azerbaijan - truth lies - Bosnia - possible possibilities - China - water and disturbing morf - Croatia - beautiful background images of desolation - Georgia - taps water and meaningless bathrooms - India - Gandhi is important - Ireland - some materials - Italy - annoying maze - Kosovo - incredible stories told incredibly - Latvia - colourful materials - Luxembourg - a wall of wet books - Madagascar - tissue layers like mountains - Peru - uncomfortable images of lady bugs - Philippines - standing on glass for Instagram - Wales - disparate objects still disparate - Saudi Arabia - lots and lots and lots of seed pods - Singapore - stunning folded graphic scores for recorders - Slovenia - military tracking - Ukraine - wonderful shadow idea - UAE - a narrative can have 2 sides - Hong Kong - delicate balanced craft - Zimbabwe - yet more disagreements - Individual artists who had work in the Arsenale and stood out included the war film of Christian Marclay - Tavares Stachan’s neon skeleton - I saw Ed Atkins at Cabinet last year but it was good to revisit - Liu Wei’s shaking windows of protest - the slow comic burn of Alex Da Corte and his disturbing videos - the data overload of Ryoki Ikeda - the sad disturbing walls of Rula Halawani - gorgeous calm dancing weaves of Suki Seokyeong Kang - Christine and Margaret Wertheim’s crochet coral - Jon Rafmans disturbing dystopia vision of something or someplace - the quiet rebellious work of Frida Orupabo - liminal power abused by the military exposed by Lawrence Abu Hamadan - the extraordinary commentary of a black experience through BLKNEWS by Kahlil Joseph, the staged photography of Stan Douglas - the whipping chair and blood machine of Sun Yuan & Peng Yu - playful Tarek Atoui playing ceramics - Collateral Events included The Death of James Lee Byars - lots of gold leaf - Future Generation Art Prize, which had the mind and body twisted work by Jakob Steensen, quite possibly the most disorientating VR I’ve experienced -  FutuaRoma had a stunningly thoughtful animation and free wild seeds - the oppressive 3x3x6 looked at ownership of data - Living Rocks was an incredibly precise 20m projection, From image to shape presented the intriguing Arte povera work of Pino Pascali and ending the 'art looking' at the glorious Punta Della Dogana for the superbly curated Luogo e Segni show of very special work in a very special space - I just love the concrete of Tao Dao so - until 2021 - already looking forward to it.

calvinolivesintheadriatic

still thinking of Venice - whenever I am not there I find it difficult to imagine that such a place exists - as if it only occurs when I am present and even when I'm there it's as if it is only in existence if I can see it - it ceases to happen behind me as if it's very being was a magic trick, an illusion - like something out of a Calvino story.

the book the circle was a must read moment a few years ago, in some ways it presented a future but maybe one that was already here. the film the circle suffered from expectation and also that the future was defiantly already here. Not a bad film but I did love the book. Wonder woman was a glorious jaunt but along with the action packed the photograph we last saw in Dawn of Justice took on a poignancy that was beautiful. I enjoyed the reading of this part of the film in http://uproxx.com/hitfix/wonder-woman-wwi-photograph-bvs/

The exhibition at White Cube is a really interesting female surrealist overview - for me the stand out pieces are by Shana Moulton, especially the piece My Life as an INFJ the projection which interacts with objects and then one can never not be stunned by Lee Miller's photograph Untitled (Severed breast from radical surgery in a modern setting 1 & 2). 

itsanationalisticdicktatorship.....maybe

a system for mass producing life-size Christ's made of mould, raining inside a building, a football sized reflection of a factory, a room of wool, an alternative history of Alien human interaction, truly huge projections in post industrial settings, questioning of questionable person aesthetics and national values, giant statements in Nationalistic settings  - it must be Venice Biennale... as Christine Macel states in the catalogue 'art bears witness to the most precious part of what makes us human at a point when humanism is precisely jeopardised, art is the ultimate ground for reflection'. four days in Venice going to the Biennale exhibition gives one a real sense that artist are doing their job, observing, pointing out, calling to order and celebrating what it is to be human. The highlight was the 2 hour performance in the German Pavilion by Anne Imhof. It was stunning, challenging and thoughtful, the room divided in such a way allowed performers to move under the audience, performing tasks while we observed and always out of control. Then there was the Spanish Pavilion which celebrated nomadic culture through a group that supports their rights - the idea of a DICKtatorship and the COCKocracy of our lives was wonderful. Most Nations pavilions looked at where we are now and if felt that those that didn't missed out on the opportunity to actually say something.  

the whole Arsenale space felt highly curated and as an audience member one was taken on an excellent journey. Some of the work that sticks is .....Shimabukn's Snow Monkey video which comments on isolation and dislocation from what we understand, Guan Xiao's David asks do we know anything anymore? Kader Attia moving and physical representation of transgender voice pattern through Indian movies. There is lots of what could be described as cultural appropriation but the work of Enrique Ramirez felt genuine and heartfelt but then it was filmed in an extraordinary space. lots of artists working with the book and showing their working process Sam Lewitt's work with light as books was an example of both, Jeremy Shaw explore states of transgender the moving documentary got to the heart of searching for meaning but constantly failing.....mournful, Pauline Curnier Jardin gave me my laugh out loud moment - in her film a woman lifts her skirt to reveal the head of Jesus talking to her from within her pubic hair, at first the cute video by Nevin Aladag of instruments being played by street furniture and children's playground rides was fun and frivolous but the absence of musicians started to take on a sinister tone. There is some excellent Book Art from around the world included in the main exhibition in the Arsenale - starting with a great show of work by John Latham, the obsessive notebooks of Abdullah Al Saadi, exquisite paintings of books by Liu Ye, glowing coloured books by Geng Jianyi, the truly gorgeous textile books of Maria Lai, the stunning research project around the idea of book as symbol by Sam Lewit , the solid earth books by Michelle Stuart and the obsessive text works of Irma Blank

2 days seeing collateral pavilions around Venice and I'm left with thoughts of the Welsh and Scottish Pavilions spinning in my head. Already a fan of Rachael Maclean but her video was gloriously blunt to the point of obvious when creating a fairytale for our time with good and evil well in their place. James Richards representing Wales has a combination of sound, video and print that worked so well in the space and with great content it was just beautiful.

then there was Damien Hirst at Punta Della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi - Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable Damien Hirst - excessive, unnecessary, brash  and overbearing but truly wonderful. The whole pointless show has clues if you look for them armed with a little bit of pop culture knowledge - an Egyptian goddess revealed itself through its tattoos to be Riannon, the likeness to Farrell Williams on another is startling, bodies based on Barbie, one of the weapons has to be out of a video game and I'm sure John Merrick was the model for Proteus - it is truly excessive - go see. I wish there was a book revealing all the hidden stories - I would buy.

tworopesholdingvenice

playing with new video software I've managed to solve this piece that's been in the files for a while - meanwhile some films - The Danish Girl - really very beautiful - heavy on the lingering texture with some painterly camera work. Straight Outta Compton made you want to go out and give the original tracks an airing. In the Heart of the Sea - unfortunately the soundtrack illustrated how you were meant to feel while Ron Howard sprinkled 'overallness' everywhere, although I thought the physical interior spaces were a set/prop makers dream.

headexplodinginveniceasever

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=OaIp3-n58tY destruction, desecration and hope, the silence of existing systems watching helplessly while new beginnings from the past are reenacted. Factory of the Sun by Hito Steyerl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyqqiELBDZM set within a 'virtual motion capture studio' itself shown in a motion capture studio it stunningly explores notions of truth that supports and surrounds our understanding of the world. Ashes by Steve McQueen https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DFIn5d69VXE just tragically sad - reading about its conception helps a little, NoNoseKnows by Mika Rottenberg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M9CFHk8P-Q my WTF moment - work undertaken by women, natural order undermined by capitalist pointlessness, truly odd and finally the haunting Never Say Goodbye by WuTien-Chang https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1arIe9iKlAs beautiful, magic, the presentation of a nostalgic future.

creakingsoundsawaitingarole

I've been thinking about tension within textile activity for some research I'm involved with and I came across this video from Venice - I love the creaking of the rope as it works against itself.
A couple of days at the Flipside festival at Snape Maltings – http://www.flipsidefestival.co.uk/ the opening party was an interesting event – Giles Peterson providing Brazilian sounds, although unsure where Rod Stewart fitted into this concept.  I really enjoyed Lionel Shriver and Paulo Scott talking about their work – it provided a number of beautiful insights into the reasons for writing and specifics around particular pieces of their writing – went onto read Lionel Shriver’s  short story http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/01/kilifi-creek-lionel-shriver-bbc-short-story-2014-winner and loved the crafting of words – the until – and unless.
Looking forward to delivering year 3 briefings tomorrow at NUA – it’s their first day back – that means only 228 days till they leave.

ambitionarego

back from the Venice Biennale. i am a little overwhelmed just thinking about some of the wonderful work i saw over the 4 days. in my role as lecturer i have several hundred images that i have taken with a view to talking about them to students over the next 6 months – the subjects range from – the idea of archive, the role of documentation both as art form and how to display and access, the floral, the role of the artist as protagonist, activist and testifier, materials their use and meaning and the idea of how to exhibit process. in my role as artist the idea of ambition and scale has sparked in me a desire to get some things printed very large!
and then there are the highlights – Venice! – i will never tire of riding the vaporettos late at night but in terms of the art moments there are so many - but to name a few they have to be Lee Yongback in the Korean Pavillion, especially the video piece angel soldier, the painful madness of Christoph Schilingensief’s German pavilion – the design of the Austrian pavilion, Fernando Prat’s act of printing actual disasters, the warmth of Domink Langs collaboration with his dads sculptures, Hungary’s car crash opera, the darkness of Serbia with Dragoliub Rasa Todosijevic, the subtly of Alejandro cesarco’s photo drawings of cloth, Dayanita Singh series of photographs of archives titled File Room and Yto Barrada, Family Tree and telephone books will stay with me alongside the wondrous ambition of The Clocks by Christian Marclay.
now to work.....

richpeoplehavingtheirphotographspainted

a week in venice – where to start – it really is a place that enables creative thought and possibilities to flourish – staying away from the biennale site and the arsenale in a part of venice that was unfamiliar meant that new places were unearthed – highlights have to be seeing Hieronymus Bosch at the Palazzo Grimani – only three paintings but superbly hung within this conserved space – connecting what was to what is gave an indication of the life of the space. they had hung a stone angle in the same room as The Ascent to the Empyrean from the Vision of the Afterlife – truly transformational. http://viewfromthebow.blogspot.com/2010/12/hieronymus-bosch-in-venice.html the Academia was a mess of rebuilding but I wanted to look at the representation of cloth and consider a new line of research – the fold, specifically book structure and smocking – but coming across - The Ambassadors Return to the Court Inglese by Vittore Carpaccio http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Saint_Ursula the question of association was posed – is the fold and therefore smocking evil? – more of this later - looking at my notes the name Vittore Carpaccio appears often – his cycle of paintings for Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuola_di_San_Giorgio_degli_Schiavoni were quite extraordinary – a real treat especially as the space felt like it really hadn’t changed since 1555 and then there is the extraordinary alterpiece The Ten Thousand Martyrs of Mount Ararat http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diecimila_martiri with its quite bizzare Michael Moorcock/Ron Hubbard science fiction image of heaven. finally a couple of images that i am sure will find their way into lectures quite soon.