Rush

The visual arts aren’t the only ones who head off to Venice every couple of years. The film folk do it and so too do the architects. At least one NZ project was invited to the 2012 Architectural Biennale directed by David Chipperfield but funding  (public or private) proved impossible. The next one is being directed by megastar Rem Koolhaas and he has announced it will be called Fundementals, a Biennale about architecture, not architects. That’s going to be a lot of egos to damp down for a start.

This time round it looks like NZ will be up for it. The NZ Institute of Architects has taken charge of fund raising (with the caveat that if it doesn't hit its goal the train won't leave the station). To kick things off it has launched a competition to find a ‘Creative Director.” The job is to devise the exhibition and arrange freighting and installation. All this is to be achieved between the appointment mid-next month and June 2014. At five months this is almost exactly a year less that the time it takes to make the visual arts exhibition in Venice (Simon Denny's selection was announced yesterday for the 2015 Biennale that also kicks off in June).

The amount available for materials, fabrication, sub-contractor and consultant costs, plus the cost of transporting, installing and de-installing the exhibition is $50,000. By way of comparison the visual arts representation at Venice costs around $1 million and New Zealand spent around $6 million attending the Frankfurt Book Fair last year and almost certainly spent more than $50,000 on the architecturally designed stand.

Koolhaas has said he wants each country’s exhibitors to “show, each in their own way, the process of the erasure of national characteristics in favour of the almost universal adoption of a single modern language in a single repertoire of typologies.” Take that Regionalism. Still if you look at Koolhaas’s buildings in China he certainly puts his global architecture where his mouth is. In their brief the NZIA suggests the NZ Creative Director might want to 'reflect, provoke, challenge or elaborate on the Koolhaas theme. Lets hope they go for good hard kick in its butt.

You can read the AI's briefing paper here

The ring cycle

Who'd have thought a cultural smack down between two giant fashion houses would take place in Venice? 

In the left hand corner we have Prada with intellectual cred and a curatorial heavyweight. Germano Celant - a past director of the Venice Biennale and the person who first coined the term Arte Povera in 1967 - leads off for Prada. As we've already posted, Prada has filled its entire building with a highly researched recreation of the famous 1969 exhibition When attitudes become form. 

Then, in the right hand corner we have Gucci (YSL, Bottega Veneta, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney etc etc) for the François Pinault Foundation. Director Martin Bethenod is a journalist and previously Chief of Staff for the President of the Pompidou Centre. This might seem a little lightweight but the Pinault Foundation brings into the ring a gigantic installation by Rudolf Stingel at the Palazzo Grassi. Stingel has photographed an oriental rug, enlarged it and then had the enlarged image printed onto carpet. 

But wait, there’s more. Lots of carpet. It's been impeccably laid over the entire 5,000 square meters of the building, floors and walls. It’s about 4800 meters more than we needed.

A knock-out for Prada in the first round.

Images: Top, Rudolf Stingel at the Palazzo Grassi and bottom, a detail from Prada’s recreation of When attitudes become form. Photo: Attilio Maranzano for Fondazione Prada

If it’s broke, fix it

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee needs to call a moratorium on pulling down Christchurch’s heritage buildings and get to Venice, and he needs to get to Venice quick. This is the Brownlee who said about Christchurch’s heritage buildings, "While they are part of our past history, they have no place in our future history. As I've said repeatedly, heritage is both forward and back and from this point on, we decide what the heritage of this city will be."

When he gets to Venice, and he might as well bring the team of people who are giving the ok to demolish heritage buildings in Christchurch, he’s going to find a whole city (a city that has had many earthquakes of its own in the past) that he and his mates would put under the bulldozer.

Brownlee could go round cracking Venetians up by telling them that their buildings were a grave risk to personal safety and that the old stuff he saw around him has no place in Venice’s ‘future history.’

The team could spend a year or so red-stickering practically every architectural structure in Venice and then, go back to Christchurch and see the risks around our own heritage buildings in a completely different light. Things do fall down in Venice – the 98.6 metre Campanile in St. Mark’s Square dropped to the ground in 1902 and the Venetians did what any city proud of its heritage would do. They put the damn thing up again.

Image: Venice (click on image to widen cracks and increase leans)

Business as usual

The art world swarms into Venice distributing itself in every hotel room and every possible exhibition space. Large art works pop up over night, a wafer thin Austrian house here, a billboard image of the Virgin Mary that looks like it’s been made out of bottle tops there. But underneath it all the regular art business of Venice ticks on untouched. You want a statue of Michael Jackson cutting off Ronald McDonald’s head? It’s waiting for you in a dealer gallery somewhere near St Mark’s Square.

Branded: Tiepolo

OK, we promise we won't do it again, but it was pounding piles into the water (the way they have since Venice began, the whole city is balanced on them) and it was right next door to where Michael Parekowhai was installing his work.

Thinking of Venice

55 years ago this month

Gifted

You certainly can’t say that Auckland art patrons are stingy. The word is that contributions for Venice (CNZ has asked the private sector to come up with $400,000) are on track which is a remarkable feat given the economic crisis. Jenny Gibbs (Heads of Patrons for the New Zealand presence at the Venice Biennale along with Dayle Mace) has been a tireless supporter of contemporary art. It is hard to imagine the visual arts in New Zealand being as vibrant without her consistent enthusiasm and ability to convince people to put dollars into ventures that much of the country still struggles with.

Now, in a textbook public private partnership, James Wallace has joined the Auckland City Council to transform Pah Homestead into a gallery for the James Wallace Trust collection and other projects. Just think, the next time Auckland Art Gallery can’t squeeze in something like the last Bill Hammond show, from what we have heard Pah House might easily be in a position to offer an alternate venue. Then there are the many other Aucklanders who strongly support the visual arts both in dollars and services. A couple of years ago John Key talked about promoting “a culture of generosity and giving.” He reiterated this promise at a philanthropy conference last week. Let’s hope his people are talking to our people.

LOL

The Wellington City Gallery has emailed interested punters explaining what will keep them busy over the next year while the gallery is closed.

• Replacing the images in seven light boxes on Courtenay Place in the project known as "Give us a sign".

• Changing the videos showing on the monitors inside the main entrance of the closed Gallery each month.

• Conducting tours of public art in Wellington for secondary school students.

And not to forget the senior curator who will be writing an essay on Francis Upritchard for her Venice exhibition in June 2009.

But wait…there’s more

Our announcement the other day that Judy Millar was off to Venice prompted a flurry of emails. How many people knew all this stuff? We did a rough count and figure at least 100 people were in the know including CNZ staff and councils, the losers of the proposal competition, dealers, the selection panel and we threw in a couple of others who might have been listening at the door (to be realistic we have only added one family member and one best friend who has been sworn to secrecy per person). The things is, times have changed and organisations like CNZ are not changing with them. The idea that this sort of information can be restricted to a small group of institutional people for weeks on end is not a happening thing in our world of email, blogging and mobile communications. If we can hear about the Venice result in Berlin, it’s not a big secret.

The solution for CNZ is to open up its processes, stop using the Official Information Act like a blunt instrument, and think of themselves as partners in the culture rather than parents. For example, is there any reason why the meeting of the panel to decide on the artist for Venice couldn’t be open to the public? It sounds outrageous in today’s climate, but why? Knowing how the people who represent us think is important to us all, and we do pay most of their salaries.

In the meantime, we understand that CNZ is trying to get funds to send a second artist to Venice. Why this is a problem is anybody’s guess, as most of the Venice funding goes on the venue and its staffing, not the artists. So fingers crossed for Francis and good on you Judy.
Image: a set of Ginzu steak knives

On the nose

Emails have been flooding in and we can now have a good guess at the short list for Venice. First up it looks like Julian Dashper, Ronnie van Hout, Andy Palmer, Fiona Pardington, Hye Rim Lee and Sriwhana Spong have fallen at the first hurdle. From our initial list, that leaves Phil Dadson, Judy Millar, Yvonne Todd and Francis Upritchard, although we have only had two of those confirmed (make that three). And, when you’re placing your bets, don’t forget the dark six that help make up CNZ’s strangely small pool of 16 contenders.

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet.blog@gmail.com. the venice short list has now been assembled and cnz have contacted losers in the first round of the competition. at least two on the list published on overthenet are out of the race. gavin hipkins has joined the staff of the auckland university school of fine arts. sheep have rubbed a white line in lanolin along the base of richard serra’s sculpture te tuhirangi contour on the gibbs’ kaipara harbour farm, serra is apparently fine with it. ronnie van hout has a son vito. michael lett will be at the basel art fair again this year and this time without cnz support. the winner of the stewart fountain commission in christchurch will be announced at the beginning of scape in september. any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud rewarded with an overthenet cap.
Image: Spam study by Edward Ruscha, UBS collection

You gotta be in to win

One of our regular readers has insisted we hold an overthenet sweepstake on who will represent New Zealand at the next Venice biennale. So, as CNZ nominations closed last Friday, let’s get started. There’s a free overthenet cap (yes, it’s in production) and possibly something even grander, for the best top 5 list of artists who are most likely to be selected. To kick things off, here’s the one sent in by the RR.

Michael Parekowhai
Boyd Webb
Francis Upritchard
Bill Culbert (with or without Ralph Hotere)
Phil Dadson

RR also added McCahon and Len Lye, but as we say, list 5 artists.

To add to the mix we will ask CNZ for all the nominations they have received.

Image: the lucky winner (simulation).

Cold comfort

This small image of the cover of the book slated for Venice has arrived at overthenet. The accompanying email explains that the image is a rough approximation of the cover – sounds like an identikit picture. If anyone has an original we’d be happy to share it with you all. The book’s title Speculation (def. Taking large risks, especially with respect to trying to predict the future) may refer to the absence from the book of most of the artists previously representing New Zealand at Venice. We're understand Peter Robinson's (2001) there, but et al. (2005), Jacqueline Fraser (2001) and Mike Stevenson (2003) are not.

And still the waters rise

From Te Manawa's Alice Hutchinson, a note to explain that The Dominion Post removed crucial context when they quoted her in their story on the 'strenuous fund-raising efforts' of Brett Graham and Rachel Rakena to get their project to the Venice Biennale. Alice had noted that the project was selected by the Biennale director/curator for the collateral exhibitions based on artistic merit over hundreds of international submissions. Now it is going to be very interesting to watch how Creative New Zealand’s handles the funding request for the Venice project. Having backed off selecting a representative themselves, what happens when the private sector does the job for them and turns up at the door looking for partnership support?

Team spirit

“Te Manawa curator Alice Hutchinson said it was the first time that New Zealand had been admitted to the biennale based on artistic merit alone.”
Alice Hutchison, Team Leader Art at Te Manawa, evidently referring to Peter Robinson, Jacqueline Fraser, Michael Stevenson and et al. in the Dominion Evening Post’s story on the Brett Graham project for the Venice Biennale, Artists scramble to find funds for biennale - 5 March 07

Your tax dollar at play

While we are in a money mood, here is the cost of CNZ’s Trip of a Lifetime Tour. The lucky winners will be flown to Europe where they will tour the art event hotspots in Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Their mission: to see if things like the Venice Biennale, Documenta and the Basel Art Fair are worth other people attending in the future. CNZ has costed the Trip of a Lifetime, including accommodation, meals, tickets to the events and travel at - $65,000.

Into the net

A note from Two Rooms to say that the budget for the Graham Rakena Venice project is in fact $350,000. So much for our maths, and fiscal savvy. Still, this important correction aside, we stand by our statement that the fundamental practice was a complete bargain.

Mate’s rates

The story, ‘Brett Graham bags Venice invite’ on the blog Waatea News Update, tells us that ‘Brett Graham and Rachel Rakena are trying to raise a quarter of a million dollars to get their collaborative work Aniwaniwa to the Venice Biennale.’ When you put that number together with information from Two Rooms that 'They have a beautiful venue already organised and secured, and 75% sponsored by an Italian Fashion house Byblos', and you're talking about a budget of one million dollars. As this is double what Creative New Zealand spent on et al. in 2005, let's finally all agree that the fundamental practice was a complete bargain.

CORRECTION: A note from Two Rooms to say that the budget for the Graham Rakena Venice project is in fact $350,000. So much for our maths and fiscal savvy.

Water world

When we put Two Rooms fund raising together with Te Manawa’s audacious Venice Biennale project, we got it right. A note from Jenny Todd at Two Rooms confirms that they are fully behind Te Manawa’s efforts to secure funding for the Brett Graham and Rachael Rakena installation. Remember that Creative New Zealand has decided not to fund any Venice art projects, apart from the Trip of a Life Time Tour. We’re told Te Manawa has “a beautiful venue already organised and secured, and 75% sponsored by an Italian Fashion house Byblos. The venue is on the canal facing the Guidecca (Zattere) – one stop from St Mark’s.” Through the Curator Alice Hutchinson and two Italian curators, Jenny tells us, the Graham/ Rakena installation was “proposed for the Venice Biennale and accepted by Robert Storr as a Collateral Event. The Collateral events are side events to the participating countries and last time this program included the Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh Pavilions as well as curated shows from China, India and others.” On Thursday 15 February Two Rooms are holding an event from 5.30 to 7.00 pm to announce the project to potential art sponsors and patrons in Auckland and to push on with raising the rest of the funding.
Images: The venue secured for the Brett Graham and Rachael Rakena installation