More odd things and some art

Our house with one of the versions of the street name painted on the outside, presumably, as it is on the house, it is accurate.

Melina Garcia, Me and Simone Jones, at the Arsenale

Poland

Nordic Pavilion titled The Collector and who clearly not survived the world financial crisis

Lithuania - video tape used to make a tunnel

Comparisons and odd moments around Venice

Some of this information is available in your friendly Lonely Planet Guide, but here are some pics of odd things that aren't reported in such publications. Perhaps I have a longing to be a sailor...

The bottled water boat

Cans of food destined for supermarkets and restaurants

These are the old green work horses, equivalent to a council truck with a crane for lifting garbage etc and just narrow enough to fit down the smaller canals

This police boat is for catching robbers and speeding boaties, apprehending villains and nabbing Mafia. Apparently there is a traffic light on the canal - but I haven't managed to find it yet

This is a truck carrying goods to our local supermarket - 'The Billa' It is brought in on a barge which is shuffled into place right beside the store. It stays on the vessel while it is unloaded by hand.

These blokes hang around the canal where we live, hoping to catch tourists and take them on a ride in their gondola

Living in a city that is completely built around, dependent on and being destroyed by water (and people) is peculiar to say the least. The way we deal with ordinary things everyday on terra firma would look inordinately out of place in this water city. If I had time to have a hobby it would be to research water dwellers.

Fridge crates (large eskies) being loaded onto a work horse boat - taking frozen foods to supermarkets and shops

Laundry being taken away from the hotels

Charming as it is - it seems that Venice is groaning under the weight of its responsibility to respect, uphold and preserve its valuable assets. The generations before, who invaded this urban swamp, obliterated huge chunks of previous infrastructure - so that what you see in current Venice is a 'fruit salad' of various architectural styles, sometimes all in the one building. The streets too have no sense of order, with street numbers and names changing mid stride (mid century or mid millennium) in what must drive cartographers mad when compiling the definitive street map of Venezia. Sometimes these are so narrow that you are forced to touch others as you pass by.

A clash of styles and cover-ups from previous generations

If you bought a double fridge for instance - there is no way you would get it anywhere near your house- let alone up the narrow, often ricketty stairs. So shopping is done every day. The women here are generally older and stay at home. Husbands come home for lunch and a snooze. Practically the entire city closes between 1pm & 3.30. All the fruit and fish stalls pack everything away at 1 and bring it out again after the lunch break.

A milk boat

It, as a city, is constantly under repair - not the sort of repair that we undertake - where we completely gut buildings leaving a token facade to remind us of the past - these people glue, patch, backfill and mend. There is not much that is new, which adds to its charm. It seems at times that every surface is crumbling. Large chunks of mortar or render fall off leaving the exposed brickwork to the elements.

The huge cruise liners (and ships for heavy industry close by) that roll into the city every day- spilling 20 million visitor to the city each year are, according to some people, part of the reason for the decay in the architecture. The rise in sea levels are due in part to the dredging of the many waterways around the Venice Lagoon some years ago to allow these large vessels close to the shore.

Those little buildings in the distance are where we are living

The Giardini

The national pavilions this year at the Giardini have been uninspiring - in fact most of the Biennale is - so I'm only going to cover the ones I have found interesting.

Roman Ondak, one of my favourites, was again in a thoughtful mood opening the Czech and Solvak Republic's pavilion at both ends and carrying the Giardini garden through the building with fully grown trees, a pathway and shrubs inside. Called Loop, it mirrored the exact planting of Giardini area, so much so that people missed his work. It is right next to the Australian Pavilion - and we are forever explaining the work to viewers and redirecting them.

The Loop by Roman Ondak

Russia had a feast of about seven artists of which, Pavel Pepperstien and Irina Korina, were standouts.
Pepperstien presented a series of 30 or so watercolours each posing futuristic, apocalyptic scenarios and individually lit in a darkened room. Under each was written a year (2241, 3466 etc) in what looked like neon, but was actually numbers formed by white painted tubing, similar to neon, and highlighted with a UV light.

Pavel Pepperstien (Russia)

Pavel Pepperstien (Russia)

This work below was by Irina Korina who, also in a darkened room, painted the walls with what looked like a crowd at football match, floor to ceiling. When the roar of the crowd slowly reaches a climax and the lights come on, and the wall are completely white. She used special UV paint -invisible to the naked eye.... These works were a refreshing diversion from the ho hum of neon.

Irina Korina (Russia)

Fiona Tan, who was born in Indonesia, and has spent some time in Australia, is representing the Netherlands. She was a standout. Well presented and very considered work. http://www.fionatanvenice.nl/disorient/

Fiona Tan (Netherlands)

Working and out and about in Venice

Ken Yonetani - the works are made of sugar depicting the dead Barrier Reef. He is a Japanese artist who has been living in Australia for about 10 years

Vernon Ah Kee's work, one of two works - the other is a 3 channel video projection (above) about some Aboriginal surfers 'invading' a beach at Surfers Paradise

This is Sean and Claire's work - it is great and we met them the other day - really chilled out artists. They have just had thie first baby four days after they got back to Australia (after installing the work) - it's 175,218 video tapes packed to the ceiling (almost) There website is www.claireandsean.com

This is us on duty at the Ludoteca - writing blogs. As you can see the building is old. When we lean against the wall behind, handfuls of rubble fall off onto the floor. It would probably be called a 'renovator's delight' at home - (in other words, pull it down and start again... ) It's rather beautiful and has marble floors and ornate ceilings. It's being used as a school but they are all on holidays, so we are able to use it. We have to dismantle part of Vernon Ah Kee's work in a couple of weeks because they need the space when school resumes.

This is the view from my vaporetta ride in the mornings

This is my bus - (vaporetta)

This is our street

Well, my nearest and dearest will laugh, but I've had to buy a compass. I have been getting completely lost. There are no horizon lines, landmarks of note or familiar street grids to follow. Venice is just a maze with very dubiopus signage and every map is different with different spelling. Hmmm...

Australia's MADDESTMAXIMVS

Here are some images of Shaun Gladwell's work at the Australian Pavilion.
The exhibition title is MADDESTMAXIMVS and it includes a series of works that are either new or extensions of previous works. There are several video works, some objects he used in a graffiti performance and two vehicles outside the Pavilion.

THESE TWO IMAGES ARE OF THE CAR AND THE BIKE,
(USED IN THE VIDEOS) OUTSIDE THE PAVILION - I'M NOT SURE HOW THEY MANAGED TO GET THE CAR HERE AS THERE ARE NO ROADS IN VENICE.

WE HAVE TO PUT COVERS ON THESE TWO VEHICLES EACH NIGHT - THE BIKE'S TYRE PROTRUDES INSIDE THE BUILDING

Interceptor Surf Sequence 2009, (above) is based on the George Miller/ Mel Gibson trilogy of Mad Max films, it also references (strongly, I think) Nolan's Ned Kelly series of works. The vehicle is at the Australian Pavilion, as is the bike from the Apology to Road Kill. It is interesting that he started out as landscape painter - these works seem to be an extension of that practice.

APOLOGY TO ROADKILL (1-6) 2007-09

The other works, Apology to Roadkill (1-6) 2007-09 is a series of 6 slow motion video works (looped) of Gladwell, clad in black leather, riding his bike down outback highways, stopping only to pay respect to (hug), and carry dead kangaroos off to the side of the road - for no apparent reason. The kangaroos are in various stages of decomposition. The other works are Centred Pataphysical Suite (2009) - a series of 6 monitors stacked on the wall up to ceiling height each showing a performance activity where someone is spinning - be it a skater, bike rider, break-dancer etc. Opposite that, and with reference to this work, is a human skull slowly spinning in unison with the videos. It has an endoscope (a camera in a tube, used for viewing into human bodies) in the centre which shows the inside of the skull rotating - it's called Endoscoptic Vanitas (2009). Another work, on the far wall of the pavilion is a series of graffiti-style spray 'drawings' he did on an outback highway, accompanied by a video of the performance.

There are lots of interesting people around. Curators and journalists are still trickling in even after the vernessage (opening) in June. A few Australians who are working or living abroad, like to call and chat about home. We had a collector from Belgium call in and chat. He owned a private museum, which he opened to the public, and he had just lent a Yinka Shonebare work for the touring show that was at the MCA in Sydney recently.
Yesterday I had a chat to a lady from Malibu who was Mel Gibson's neighbour. She was pretty ordinary and very nice, but didn't think much of Mel. He is filing for a divorce and she doesn't see him much now, but her grandchildren go to the same school as his children, and Mel's estranged wife and her daughter are good friends. I think she was a bit disappointed that I didn't seem to care.

Coming soon ...will be some highlights of shows that I've seen - and the ins and outs of living (as opposed to visiting) Venice.

Venice for 7 weeks

Simone Jones (My flatmate)

Arrived in Venice on July 30 and started work the next day. My new flatmate and I quickly discovered that our black regulation art clothes we brought with us, from our summer, is not what you wear here. A quick trip to the shops and I'm decked out in a regulation black flowing frock. Four of us at the Australian Pavilion all walk to work like Men in Black with our black sunnies and lanyards flying. Every one looks at us as though we are from another planet. Apart from a couple of other art tragics - there is not another sole in Venice wearing black in mid summer...

Australia has two sites for their artists, Shaun Gladwell is showing in the Australian Pavilion, which is a permanent structure here in the Giardini (Garden) to the east of the city. The other site is about 5 minutes walk away at the Ludoteca in the Castello area. The artists, Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy, Vernon Ah Kee and Ken Yonetani, are included in Felicity Fenner's curated exhibition Once Removed and housed in a former convent. I'll get some photos and post them soon, but in the mean time you can check it out on the Australia Council website. http://www.australiavenicebiennale.com.au/

I am staying in a cute little apartment with another Australian, curator Simone Jones from QUT Art Museum. It's in the Dorsoduro region just one vaporetta stop (about 12 minutes) from the Giardini and Ludoteca. There are two other Australians, Melinda Garcia from the MCA in Sydney and Stella Loftus-Hills from the Monash Art Gallery in Melbourne.

Team Australia (It's my day off hence the brown frock)

We rotate shifts between venues each week and usually 2 of us work with 2 Italian attendants, who help with translation. The other 2 Australians have an apartment right next to the Ludoteca, so they walk to work.

Met up with some other nations for spritz and picnics in the evenings after work - Americans, British, Canadians - and of course Italians.

Team Australia with Teams Britain, Canada and a few random countries

last days in Berlin

The other great show was Rirkit Tiravanjia's, Chew the Fat at the Neugerrimemschnierder Gallery. (and we thought Wooloomooloo was hard) http://newmediafix.net/daily/?p=2365 The artist covered the floor with orange carpet and viewers are invited to sit on comfy pillows and watch Tiravanija interviewing artists in their homes. It sounds dull, but it is quite interesting to see exactly what Liam Gillick looks like for instance, and what he gets up to when doing ordinary things about his house. From the website above:

All interviews are conducted by Tiravanija, and his friendship with the artists — most of whom have been collaborators at one time or another — produces a relaxed and informal air. He goes fishing with Carsten Höller, walks the California desert with Andrea Zittel and checks e-mail with Liam Gillick. He visits Jorge Pardo’s spacious Los Angeles studio and Elizabeth Peyton’s Long Island porch, then receives a visit in Thailand from Pierre Huyghe. In Paris Tiravanija drinks wine with Philippe Parreno and strolls along the Seine with Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. He visits both Angela Bulloch and Douglas Gordon in Berlin, and rides a train across Germany with Tobias Rehberger. (Cattelan, though not interviewed directly, appears through the commentary of his friends.) The result is a series of playful and wide-ranging conversations that capture the spirit of a generation.

Off to Venice