The Biennale: A thing, and people looking at it, photographing it, pondering it, or discussing it without pondering.
For a thing that essentially doesn’t interest me, I seem to be unable to resist mentioning it. Each year the prologue (fancy word for “the few days preceding the opening”) to the Biennale changes the neighborhood rhythms, not to mention the scenery, as participants, journalists, and assistants of all sorts and levels permeate our corner of Castello. Saturday the sun was finally shining, and there was an atmosphere of a pleasant kind of updraft out and about.
The Biennale — this year it’s dedicated to Architecture — will run from May 20 to November 26. Whether I personally like it or not is absolutely immaterial to everybody, including me. It Is. And if you think art (or this year, architecture) is the point, you may be mistaken. When the city government hits “total” on the municipal calculators six months later — yes, half of the entire year — it’s clear that the Biennale has become one of Venice’s main sources of income.
Venice has survived for centuries by selling things, and this international event is the latest in the very long sequence of commercial activities and products. Basically, Venice now sells itself, or what I call Being in Venice. The subcategories are “looking at things,” “eating food,” “sleeping somewhere.” Sub-subcategory: “getting around in vaporettos and taxis and big lumbering tourist launches or on foot clogging streets and bridges.” Any visitor to Venice is part of this dynamic — the Biennale just concentrates it in a spectacular way. My comments are not opinions. Having an opinion on the Biennale would be like having an opinion on gravity.
Setting the scene: the fondamenta di Ca’ di Dio in front of the Arsenale vaporetto stop. It’s an excellent position and if I had time I’d try to find out how much it cost the artist to use this space, because it must be one of the most desirable locations in the city. Sharp-eyed readers will remember last year’s gold cube…
Opening day is May 20 and it will run to November 26. It seems like it just closed and yet somehow here it is again. Last Saturday the neighborhood had a sort of swirly atmosphere. Not entirely unpleasant – at least you see some new people and discover whatever is trending in the world of fashion. One hopes that some of these outfits do not represent actual trends.
I actually like this; just thought I should let you know.There seems to be no angle at which this piece looks bad. Excellent work, Mr. Roggi.
As usual, though, the title of the work is beyond gnomic. Here is the tag, you can work it out however you like. The subtitle, which I think belongs to the group of three pieces, translates as “The seed of rebirth.” The primary word is an arty rendition of “genesis.” At least I think it is.Here the airborne couple is part of a quite fabulous olive tree.
“The Roots of Rebirth.” If you pass by, I hope you will admire not only the roots, but the gleaming little bronze olives scattered among the leaves.This is the third work of the trio of Genesys. You have to look hard to find it.That little golden golf ball (fine, it’s bronze and it’s not for golf, I know that) is called “The energy of life.” And speaking of things that aren’t, this isn’t architecture, either. So the “Biennale of Architecture” is open to all sorts of definitions, or definitions don’t matter, which also works, I guess.We certainly needed the downpours of the past few days, but nobody calculated the drainage situation on the fondamenta. We now discover that it is not reliably flat. Could we imagine this puddle as part of the work of art? Why not?
Speaking of definitions, one of the primary points of all these works is to entitle your work or show, as far as possible, in the most cryptic possible way. Yes, the word means something; no, it’s incomprehensible here. That’s what makes it art, you peasant.
The vaporetto-dock posters are a festival of code words. “Renewal: A Symbiotic Narrative”. I will be wondering about it till November. You can see it at the pavilion of the People’s Republic of China.“Consenting Cities”It says “Still,” but I read “rhinoplasty.” Titles that lead you nowhere leave you to make up your own wild stories. The leaning tower of sinus? Someone pushed a ziggurat up my nose?We’ll all be looking up “diachronic” now, to find out what such an apparatus might be. Or look like.Radials? I’m briefly intrigued by a group or enterprise going by the name “Sbagliato.” It means “mistaken,” or simply “wrong.” Probably not intrigued enough to go see what Radials might be, though.
More architectural items are being set up in the two little parks along the fondamenta dei Sette Martiri.
It’s too soon to know what the creator of this item has titled it. No, I am not imagining a pig in a python.I will be interested to discover if there is a work of art beneath the tarpaulin, or if this is the work. Either one is fine with me. I’d have titled it “Diachronic,” but it’s already taken.It wouldn’t be the Biennale without some extraordinary performance piece out in the road on the way home. Better yet, a piece that is being filmed. If the performance doesn’t make you curious, you’ll almost certainly pause to see what the crew is up to. Please admire the important microphone. You should know that the only sound to be heard was the random blackbird call, and people walking by, talking. A dog barking, maybe. Was that part of the performance? So many questions.We see a man, evidently Muslim, in the position of prayer, next to a rolling suitcase. His hands wear fingerless gloves. Something about immigrants, I guess? The silence reveals nothing. Two solid minutes of it. Art? I guess so. We can’t call it diachronic, anyway.
When we spent months in Venice each year, we had mixed feelings about the Biennale: as collectors we felt obliged to go, and as “residents” we dreaded the crowds. We often discovered that the “off” years of the Architecture Biennale were more interesting than the art exhibits in the principal years.
What? No solid cube of gold this year! I’m kind of disappointed. 🙂
Wonderful post as usual and I totally agree with you. The sculptures by sig. Roggi are really beautiful an I can actually see what it is supposed to be. The artist might perhaps have uncountable levers of hidden meanings to de work but I’m a simple soul so I just enjoy it as I perceive it.
I, too, need to look up diachronic now,,, and try to dechiper the chinese text.
Thanks for this message Erla. The sculptures of couples dancing are so beautiful!! I like the tree also.
It is difficult to imagine a 6 month long festival.
Yes those tourists leave lots of money in Venice; and yes the locals are glad when they leave.
Your postings show me a quirky view of Venice.
You must be using an excellent camera, Erla. That Pig-in-Python image couldn’t be improved. As as for the genuflecting photographer capturing the airborne couple, that proves that the performer is part of the art. I did think that Venice is the art – the rest is just performance, but don’t quote me. I will have another look at Mr Roggi’s work if we ever have another fine day. Your attention to detail is truly educational.
We have visited your lovely city a dozen times but only once attended The Biennale. We did quite like the experience and some of the installations ( we were there the year there was a great, grasping hand in the Canale Gran) but some in the pavilions were strange, at best. We liked Damian Hirst’s “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” and enjoyed the “fiction” as he called it. Luckily it was October, the best month in Venice IMO, and crowds were manageable. Love your blog!
We were there, and staying near the Huge hand off Campo San Sofia the year that popped up. Over the years seen loads of fun things, Jeff Koons through to Damian Hirst. Mosat of all loved the gleaming Rhino near Giardini, if I recall right.
Art should be fun, often it’s taken far too seriously…. and most Artists and critics take themselves too reriously, too. Eavesdropping on them can be hugely amusing!
Great images, wish I could be there this year – but later in the year, from choice. Love Venice in the winter.
We have just got back from a wonderful holiday with our family in my favourite city, Venice. Mostly we avoided the crowded bits and found quiet walks to enjoy. It seems that we shared a favourite glass gifts shop, Erla. Since the shop is now empty, the greedy landlord has evidently shot him or herself in the foot. Would you pass on our regrets to the former owner please, Erla, and wish him the best for the future?
There are always sad moments when you return to a place time after time, but also new discoveries. That was the case last year when we returned for the first time since before the pandemic and found ristorante Wildner unrecognisable. Not going there did lead to us finding the amazing Al Covo, though, a definite bonus.
Does anyone know what happened to the Wildner? It still claims to be run by the Fullin family, but couldn’t be further from how it was up to 2019, from the menu to the staff to the food.
8 Comments
Wonderful!
When we spent months in Venice each year, we had mixed feelings about the Biennale: as collectors we felt obliged to go, and as “residents” we dreaded the crowds. We often discovered that the “off” years of the Architecture Biennale were more interesting than the art exhibits in the principal years.
What? No solid cube of gold this year! I’m kind of disappointed. 🙂
Wonderful post as usual and I totally agree with you. The sculptures by sig. Roggi are really beautiful an I can actually see what it is supposed to be. The artist might perhaps have uncountable levers of hidden meanings to de work but I’m a simple soul so I just enjoy it as I perceive it.
I, too, need to look up diachronic now,,, and try to dechiper the chinese text.
All the best from Solna,
/Andreas
Thanks for this message Erla. The sculptures of couples dancing are so beautiful!! I like the tree also.
It is difficult to imagine a 6 month long festival.
Yes those tourists leave lots of money in Venice; and yes the locals are glad when they leave.
Your postings show me a quirky view of Venice.
You must be using an excellent camera, Erla. That Pig-in-Python image couldn’t be improved. As as for the genuflecting photographer capturing the airborne couple, that proves that the performer is part of the art. I did think that Venice is the art – the rest is just performance, but don’t quote me. I will have another look at Mr Roggi’s work if we ever have another fine day. Your attention to detail is truly educational.
We have visited your lovely city a dozen times but only once attended The Biennale. We did quite like the experience and some of the installations ( we were there the year there was a great, grasping hand in the Canale Gran) but some in the pavilions were strange, at best. We liked Damian Hirst’s “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” and enjoyed the “fiction” as he called it. Luckily it was October, the best month in Venice IMO, and crowds were manageable. Love your blog!
We were there, and staying near the Huge hand off Campo San Sofia the year that popped up. Over the years seen loads of fun things, Jeff Koons through to Damian Hirst. Mosat of all loved the gleaming Rhino near Giardini, if I recall right.
Art should be fun, often it’s taken far too seriously…. and most Artists and critics take themselves too reriously, too. Eavesdropping on them can be hugely amusing!
Great images, wish I could be there this year – but later in the year, from choice. Love Venice in the winter.
We have just got back from a wonderful holiday with our family in my favourite city, Venice. Mostly we avoided the crowded bits and found quiet walks to enjoy. It seems that we shared a favourite glass gifts shop, Erla. Since the shop is now empty, the greedy landlord has evidently shot him or herself in the foot. Would you pass on our regrets to the former owner please, Erla, and wish him the best for the future?
There are always sad moments when you return to a place time after time, but also new discoveries. That was the case last year when we returned for the first time since before the pandemic and found ristorante Wildner unrecognisable. Not going there did lead to us finding the amazing Al Covo, though, a definite bonus.
Does anyone know what happened to the Wildner? It still claims to be run by the Fullin family, but couldn’t be further from how it was up to 2019, from the menu to the staff to the food.