skip to main |
skip to sidebar
We’ve had a lot of people interested to know more about the Berlin Biennale (#necessary lie) so here, culled from the five venues, is a list of what’s hot in art world Ltd.
Raves
The apocalypse
Perspex
Tears and ears
Drones
Kids under 7
Body transformation
Rules and regulations
CGI (rinse and repeat)
Interviews
Men
Cushions
Logos
Desert landscapes
Swelling music
The English language (written and spoken)
Mirrors
T-shirts
Voiceovers (ref English language above)
As one VO whispered (in English) ‘every moment is a sculpture’. Hold that thought.
If the Berlin Biennale is one thing, it’s a lot of fun. There’s a toy train to ride on, a canopy bed to sprawl across, entertainment on videos everywhere, VR headsets, twisted digitally inspired incarnations of the familiar, and a boat ride. With so much art now riding hand-in-hand with the experience business (a partygoer in one video claimed, ‘If it came to having a job or having an experience I’d always go for the experience.’ - OK robots OTY).
And so onto the water in one of Berlin’s tourist boats decked out as a post-apocalyptic relic. In the company of a large mutant rat, mud and artificial orchids we cruised up the river Spree with Berlin sliding past in its contrast and glory. To seal the relational aestheticness of it all Rirkrit Tiravanija was onboard as well as the voluable artist. It was quite a ride topped off when Moby Dick, another tour boat elaborately decked out as a killer whale, sailed by. Everyone in the post-apocalyptic vessel waved and cheered in admiration.
As it passed we heard the artist mutter, ‘That’s my boat, that’s the one I wanted.’ He could have been quoting Melville himself, ‘”What do ye do when ye see a whale, men?” “Sing out for him!” was the impulsive rejoinder.’
Images: top, Korakrit Arunanondchai / Alex-Gvojic boat instalation There's a world I'm trying to remember, for a feeling I'm about to have (a distractedpath towardextinction), Middle, Moby Dick and bottom, fellow traveler Rirkrit Tiravanija
In counterpoint to his installation in the Marciana Library in Venice, Simon Denny has scored another amazing venue, this time for the Berlin Biennale. Sited in an institution he could have invented the name for – ESMT School of Management and Technology – he’s in the heart of the old East German State Council building. Lavishly fitted out in the early 1960s it boasts sweeping staircases, imposingly high ceilings and enormous windows, elaborate metallic patterned doors as well as murals celebrating the socialist state in glass and aluminum.
Denny’s exhibition space features one of these murals soaring to the ceiling and looming over a constellation of Blockchain visionaries (the title of the show) whose mission is nothing less than to transform money and the global economy. Using the modular trades fair booth format Denny delivers three case studies presenting the key points of each strategy, a full-length portrait and even a set of stamps (in collaboration with Linda Kantchev).
OK, the Trade show format can be a struggle for art audiences with its direct messaging, reductive graphics and slippery politics but chances are they’ll grow accustomed to it. After all, many visitors to the Biennale now admire the once ignored or even despised murals of Socialist ideals that contextualize the Denny work. And yes, they look pretty damn good. You can see a short video and pics of Denny’s installation here on OTN:STUFF
Image: visitors climbing the stairs of the ESMT School of Management and Technology to see Simon Denny's instalation
