Biennale - Part 2

On Wednesday we visited the Arsenale which houses the other main section of the Biennale. It is actually in an old arsenal (not air conditioned) and is a gigantic space. Essentially down one very long corridor and then a jog to the left and another shorter space. Two separate buildings house the Italian Pavilion (not to be confused with another Italian Pavilion at the Giardini) and the Chinese Pavilion.

But back to the main section. This is very different from the Giardini since it is organized by artist and not by country. There were many video presentations, most of which were located in pitch black spaces--some with benches, but others with only the wall to lean against. One group consisted of 5 separate videos about Chinese intellectuals. It was very beautiful, but we were not able to watch the entire thing and were not really able to return.

Some spaces I found particularly moving.

1. Emily Prince. She collected photos and biographical information about soldiers killed in Afghanistan (and maybe Iraq). She then created a complex filing system organized by state. Sketches drawn from the photos were made with names, dates, locations, etc. of each soldier. They were then displayed on an enormous wall in the shape of the US. It was extremely moving and I found myself thinking about the process she went through to keep things arranged.

2. Two gigantic wall hangings created out of metallic wrappers presumably from wine bottles and other drinks. One was of bottle caps. Then were then attached to each other with small bits of wire. They were beautiful. Most of the colors were gold, silver and red. You will enjoy the photos.