Death in Venice
First published in Sleek Magazine
At this year’s Biennale Arte, it’s the end of the world as we know it
The curator of the 56th Venice Biennale, Okwui Enwezor isn’t feeling particularly positive about the current global state of affairs: his curatorial statement refers to the “shattered and scarred global landscape, ravaged by violent turmoil, economic collapse, humanitarian crises on the sea, deserts and borderlands… Every where a new crisis.”
The Biennale, despite its jaunty title “All the World’s Futures”, is intended as an exhibition within an exhibition, reflecting current artistic practice in this era of crisis. Indeed, an atmosphere of ruination dominated the Arsenale. Its gloomily lit interior was a teeming labyrinth of large-scale installation and video work, apparently arranged in no particular order. Artistic positions are thereby levelled, losing their distinct identities. Enwezor has assembled a hugely diverse cast of 130 artists from 93 countries, and while this would at first imply inchoate positions, themes do emerge slowly, such as the exploitation of both humans and ecology and the divergent powers of industry and the nation state. With Adel Abdemessed’s bouquets of machetes, “Nymphéas” (“Lilies”) forming a macabre entre, Monica Bonvicini’s concrete-cast chainsaws covered in black rubber and Bruce Naumann’s neon sculptures also set the tone for the exhibition.
Further on, a replica cannon by Arte Povera artist Pino Pascali extended this impression. Works are rapidly reeled off: performance meets installation meets video meets drawing. A Theaster Gates installation of the remains of a demolished Catholic church in Chicago (“Gone are the Days of Shelter and Martyr”), also shrouded in darkness, forces the visitor to squeeze through a narrow gap to watch a video of a musical performance in the ruins. Mika Rottenberg takes the concept of forced progress further, guiding visitors through a shop of fake pearls, an ‘obstacle’ that visitors must transgress to view her work “NoNoseKnows”, which splices animation, fake noses and explosions.
