Tom Jeffreys picks out his few highlights from an otherwise disappointing 54th Venice Biennale.
1. Finnish Pavilion
Giardini
It’s not exactly the most ringing endorsement but out of a monumentally underwhelming Biennale it is the Finnish Pavilion that has most lingered in the mind. Vesa-Pekka Ranniko presents an apparently simple video piece, shot in the pavilion itself and then represented. It’s one of the few shows that responds with any sensitivity to its surroundings (a bonkers 1950s tent-like construction by Alvar Aalto that was only meant to be temporary) and also explores ideas around process, potential, and painting as everyday craft. Strange, but persistently intriguing.
2. Israeli Pavilion
Giardini
Probably the only Pavilion that grabs you instantly and then doesn’t let go. Sigalit Landau has smashed through parts of the pavilion wall in order to set up what looks like a fully functioning system of water pipes. A series of videos explore the importance of water in a way that is both playful and apparently adheres to some kind of pre-arranged system of regulation. The highlight is a video piece depicting a pair of boots covered in salt crystals from the Dead Sea, slowly, but inexorably, sinking beneath a broad expanse of ice. It’s quiet, thoughtful, engaging work.
3. Cyprus Pavilion
Palazzo Malipiero, Campo S. Samuele
Housed on the second floor of one of the less attractive palazzos (with no windows or air-con it seems) the Cyprus Pavilion is nonetheless one of the big surprises of the Biennale. There’s a really nice contrast between the works of the two artists on show: Elizabeth Hoak-Doering has created a series of large-scale (and totally nuts) kinetic sculptures that feature desks, chairs and beds dangling from the ceiling. Pencils attached to the bottom create haphazard drawings as these items of furniture twirl clumsily about. Meanwhile, Marianna Christofides presents a series of small photographic pieces, maps and a video. A bold pairing of artists, that somehow works.
4. Future Generation Art Prize
Palazzo Papadopoli, San Polo 1364
Rather like Saatchi’s New Sensations Prize (but worth a whopping $100,000 for the winner) the newly established international art prize, modestly entitled the Future Generation Art Prize, is an extremely patchy affair, largely made up of glib nonsense. But there is some good stuff here: look out in particular for Katerina Seda’s work in the garden (you get free iced tea when you sit in a hole in the ground); Jorude Voigt’s highly rhythmical large-scale drawings, based on mathematical formulae and linguistic rules; and Cinthia Marcelle, the winner of the prize, who presents three extremely anal video pieces, obsessed with pattern, repetition and ideas of ceremony. They’re quite silly and rather good.
5. Chinese Pavilion
Arsenale
One of the strangest elements of the whole Biennale is how little attention many artists paid to the unique challenges and opportunities of exhibiting in Venice. Inside the Arsenale, the only pavilion to really use the amazing old naval yard to the full, is the Chinese. The exhibition – Pervasion – is not an unqualified success, but the use of dry ice creates a sense of excitement, Liang Yuanwei’s piece aptly fuses technology with absurdity; and Yang Maoyuan’s installation of small pottery vessels works brilliantly against the building’s weird old iron silos.
Other highlights:
Austrian Pavilion
Giardini
Markus Schinwald’s uncanny portraiture might not set the world alight (there’s at least three artists I can think of doing basically the same thing in London alone) but it still packs a hefty visual punch. This is dramatically enhanced by the artist’s architectural intervention, which transforms the pavilion into a kind of monastic maze – clean, white, and ever so slightly unsettling.
Erwin Werm’s Narrow House
Instituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, Camp S Stefano
Bizarrely this is on show as part of the otherwise appalling Glasstress exhibition in the staggeringly beautiful Instituto, overlooking the Grand Canal. Given that the show is all about glass, it’s hard to see where this 120cm wide suburban house fits in, but it’s by far the highlight of the show.
British Pavilion
Giardini
Mike Nelson’s full-on installation for the British Pavilion had queues of up to three hours even during the press preview days, but the general consensus was that they were worth it. We’re not so sure. Yes, it’s fun to wonder around what is basically a strange house (you feel like you’re in a computer game or some kind of immersive theatre) but there’s not a lot here to challenge or provoke thought of any sort.
French Pavilion
Giardini
One of many architectural pieces across the Biennale, Christian Boltanski’s massive, clamouring, factory-like installation is visually striking, and wandering around it is an enjoyable experience. The concept is a little weak though – the exploration of the relationship between chance and identity is not quite as clever or as interesting as the artist seems to think. It’s still an impressive sight.
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