Venice Biennial 2019...

12:33 p.m.

15/07/19 - For a simple observer with a bit of knowledge on the multiple languages of Contemporary Art, there’s nothing better than escaping the mechanic routine offered by museums and galleries to go beyond, to where the Art of the future is being shaped. It’s the chance to have, for an instant, that surprise that sharpens our intellect in this multi-dimensional and complex world. This is why we await with much expectation the Venice Biennial, the most important one in the planet. Let’s see if the 58th edition is up to the task. As we all know, it’s entitled May you Live in Interesting Times and it was curated by Ralph Rugoff (an American living in London and who works for one of the most renown galleries in New Bond Street).

The exhibition starts at Giardini, with a scenographic installation by Lara Favetto made with a fake column of fog that comes down from the roof to the entrance.

Thinking Head, by Lara Favaretto (2017-2019)

Scenery Fog System: pure water, ultra fine mist nozzles, fog pipes and hoses, pump stations, remote control

Once inside, the small sculptures by Andra Ursuta (Romania, 1979) will join us throughout the entire exhibition, as trash cans made of an inverted spine. Inside the artist placed everything she decided to throw away after her divorce. As it was so hard for her to decide what to keep and what to discard after her breakup, she chose to transform everything into art.

Divorce Dump, by Andra Ursuta (2019)

Materials: cast aluminum, steel, paint, trash bag and marriage trash.

The artworks made with technological assistance mingle with the more traditional ones, what makes them look kind of primitive. Can’t Help Myself is a machine that, with an obsessive movement, sweeps a red liquid inside an acrylic box. As the liquid moves, the sensors detect it and mechanic arm starts sweeping again, with such a grace that its movements look almost human. The liquid (blood) becomes uncontrollable inspite of the efforts of the sweeping arm, an elusive effect very common in Contemporary Art. Untitled by Shilpa Gupta (India, 1976) places us on the verge of a nervous breakdown: a big iron door hits repeatedly against wall, destroying it. The sound is overwhelming to the point that it should be considered illegal in a situation like this one. Plus the banging door feels like a solitary and uncontrollable being.

Can’t Help Myself, by Sun Yuan y Peng Yu (2016)

Material: Industrial robot KUKA, stainless steel, rubber

Untitled, by Shilpa Gupta (2009)

Moving door, wall

Among the other technological pieces, we find 5 circular screens that tell the fake story of a submarine built according to Leonardo Da Vinci’s design. We dive the depths of the Ocean in this machine of Renaissance, re-created to become a letal weapon, emulating our daily doses of fake news.

Leonardo’s submarine, by Hito Steyerl (2019)

Videoinstallation

The artworks with no technological assistance, most of which use elements of Nature, knits or found objects, refer to the conflicts of our planet and its own survival. They act as wake-up calls on Global Warming and the devastation caused by mankind, through apocalyptic images.