Italy 2007

Biennale 1 Jun 22, 2007

Forgot to mention: a train strike started yesterday, but apparently they usually only last a day or two (it might be over already) and I'm not leaving Venice until Monday.

The Biennale is in 2 venues; yesterday I went to the half that is in the Giardini Biennale, which is a beautiful park with big trees -- a good place to be on a hot day. Various countries have permanent pavillions there (many air conditioned). Gotta say ... looking at modern art was breath of fresh air after all those frescoes. Lots of sculpture and mixed media involving video; not so much painting or photography. Streuli was one of my fave painters.

The Gonzales-Torres one: those are wrapped pieces of black licorice on the floor. Right after I took this photo, a young woman picked up a piece, unwrapped it & ate it. I didn't think the piece was supposed to be interactive, but if you're going to include food ...

The Okabe one: These are just some of his "lifework series of frottages (rubbings) of the platform of the Ujina Station, Hiroshima."

The Altmejd one (only included because he rep's Canada) involved lots of taxidermied animals and mirrors.

These photos take forever to upload. You may be spared my photos of Biennale 2. Today I will go and look at more old stuff.