Chinese presence at Venice Biennale 2013; and the Encylopedia theme of the main show; vw tent, igloo tent

Chinese presence at Venice Biennale 2013; and the Encylopedia theme of the main show.



Before going to the Biennale this year, I didnt have much time to do research.

The Encylopedia theme of the main building had a lot of very interesting work by artists who had a full time occupation that is not "professional art" making.  

The Art Brut type of work is the most powerful because its mainly spiritually, and emotionally engaged.  All the other conceptual abstract representation of what "the artist really was trying to investigate" seemed pale.  After all its been many years, that people have moved from "beauty" to "craftsmenship" to "conceptual art brilliance" to "ordinary people could be artist too" to the definition play of "Duchamp's Urinal - ready made", to social networking media art", there were also philosophical, spiritual healing type of magic, voodoo work.

There are also political messages concerning money, middleman, horses w legs sawed off as a symbol of lack of power in a society.  And others who engage in personal poetic explorations - collaborations with biology, urban city data, the artwork themselves expand to include cross-disciplinary fields of information.

Other very well executed pieces include video of fabricated stories, re-constructing fictive histories - fables, dreams (Carl Jung's private album) and hand made scrap books of countless around the world trips - many artists had a personal issue concerning "healing".


A lot of the exhibited work concerns themes of ordinary peoples everyday wishes and dreams and not the abstract "what is art" type of ponderings.  Because of this, I like the show very much.

 I was very surprise at the number of Chinese participants at the Venice Biennale - and the small number of art criticism on the web.

From the catalogues there were lots of interviews on the curators, how, why, who financed it type of questions - very concrete practical questions that we all want to know though usually in art exhibitions of this type - a high profile non-commercial event of long history with a pure art reputation.  It might seem an approach that is "not pure art" more "business, or the business of how to set up an art show".

I am interested in these questions.

More coming... 

http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/news/2013-07-03/a-chinese-biennale/



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Meanwhile ::
VW tent for double room camping

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zooer2mYG20
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