Venice Biennale 1

Venice Biennale Reblogged from Arts Review The first reports on the art inside the national pavilions at the Venice Biennale are streaming in – Jeremy Deller’s giant mural showing an oversize William Morris hurling Roman Abramovich’s yacht into the Venice Lagoon; Ai Weiwei’s scaled-down sculptural dioramas depicting his humiliating treatment during his 81-day detention in 2011; Lara Almarcegui’s filling of the Spanish pavilion with piles of Venetian rubble. Look out for ArtReview’s news and reviews of all the best exhibitions and events in the days ahead, and in the meantime here’s some selected highlights from our ongoing online artist interview series ‘The Venice Questionnaire’, in which (always one step ahead!) we got the lowdown weeks ago, on who’s showing what, where. Jesper Just, Intercourses. Film still from 1 of 5 parts. Each film approximately 10 minutes. 2013. Courtesy of the artist. The Venice Questionnaire #1: Jesper Just, representing Denmark What can you tell us about your plans for Venice? ‘Intercourses is an installation that deals with architecture, cultural dislocation and memory – real and imagined. I was thinking about connection and disconnection, ways to communicate with and through a location or space. I have made a new film work, which will unfold in five channels, where the location is kind of the protagonist. The sound will unite the work.’ You’ll no doubt be very busy, but what else are you looking forward to seeing? ‘Gondolas.’ Shary Boyle, Burden I, 2009. Porcelain, china paint, luster, 30 x 36 x 36 cm. Courtesy the artist and Jessica Bradley Inc. The Venice Questionnaire #8: Shary Boyle, representing Canada What can you tell us about your plans for Venice? ‘For Venice I have challenged myself to transform a very bright daytime building into night, without blocking or veiling any of its essential character. I have done this with textiles, bronze, plaster and porcelain, and with the assistance of various antiquated technologies. The Canada pavilion will become a sanctuary where inner and outer space co-exist.’ Are you approaching the show in a different way to how you would with a ‘normal’ exhibition? ‘It’s impossible not to respond to site and circumstance when planning for Venice… such a large number of culturally diverse people coming through the grounds, in one of the most mythologically, architecturally, geographically fantastical cities in Europe. My work is often sourced from within – for this project especially self is in service of place and the public.’ Berlinde De Bruyckere, Kreupelhout – Cripplewood, 2013 © Berlinde De Bruyckere. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Galleria Continua. Photo: Mirjam Devriendt The Venice Questionnaire #13: Berlinde De Bruyckere, representing Belgium Are you approaching the show in a different way to how you would with a 'normal' exhibition? ‘To me it feels like I've been “commissioned” to create a work for the pavilion; therefore the space has become a very important aspect of the work. The link to the city is equally important; the city of Venice and its history are very much present. And then of course there is the text [commissioned for the exhibition] by J.M. Coetzee, which inspired me greatly and that I have tried to translate into my work.’ What are your earliest or best memories of the Biennale? ‘It's impossible to make a list. To me, visiting the Biennale is not just about the separate works. Above all, it is an experience – an opportunity to be immersed in an intoxicating and constant flow of beauty and other experiences.’ Bedwyr Williams, Starry Messenger, courtesy the artist and Abake The Venice Questionnaire #15: Bedwyr Williams, representing Wales What can you tell us about your plans for Venice? I can tell you that it has something to do with astronomy and terrazzo floors. It's about looking at bits – big and small. How telescope makers use tiny little bits to grind glass to look at other giant bits that are far away. What does it mean to ‘represent’ your country? Do you find it an honour or problematic? ‘I always felt like Wales was the 'Eddie the Eagle' of the art world so that probably means it is an honour and it's problematic. There should be a word that means problematic honour.’ What audience are you addressing with the work? The masses of artist peers, gallerists, curators and critics concentrated around the opening or the general public who come through over the following months? ‘I try to imagine myself as a young art student, a beautiful gallerina, a gouty journalist, a grumpy sceptic, a clever bald curator or a wealthy collector with nice shoes and then I address them one by one.’ Stefanos Tsivopoulos, History Zero, video still, 2013. Courtesy: the artist, Kalfayan Galleries, Prometeogallery di Ida Pisani The Venice Questionnaire #23: Stefanos Tsivopoulos, representing Greece What can you tell us about your plans for Venice? ‘I'm showing a new work specially conceived and materialised for the Greek pavilion. It's called History Zero and it's a film in three parts, and an archive of texts and images. The film questions the value of money, and the archive is a collection of examples of alternative currencies where the value of money is contested. The challenge for me was to make a new work not about the Greek crisis per se but to question what crisis is, where it is generated, and to ask whether there is a way to resist it by adopting a different view.’ What audience are you addressing with the work? The masses of artist peers, gallerists, curators and critics concentrated around the opening or the general public who come through over the following months? In History Zero I’m mostly interested in this aspect of interconnectivity and that all our actions do have meaning and affect each other’s lives. The piece asks – what is at work, that makes the world move? Many would say it's money. I think in essence it is something else and my work allows the viewer to judge for himself/herself. All my works and especially this one address people (viewers) and not audiences.