words: JOANNA DAVIES
My second Venice Biennale was as exciting, shocking and exhilarating as my first. Over 88 countries from across the world showcasing their best artworks and artists in the largest event of its kind. From strikingly life-like wax figures slowly melting before the eyes to delicately crafted sculptures, plastic monsters and strategically plopped ceramic cowpats, Venice brings out the brilliant and the bonkers in equal measure. As well as a British pavilion, which dominates the beautiful Giardini main Biennale location, there are also representatives from each Celtic nation including Wales, who exhibit on the ‘fringe’ of the Biennale.
Our last Welsh artist at the Biennale in 2009 was the living legend, Musician, John Cale, who managed to intrigue and provoke the arts set with his evocative video installations and soundscapes. This year, the artist selected by the Arts Council of Wales, is Swansea based, Tim Davies, who also focused on video and sound for his Biennale offering. Rather than being based at the usual rustic and secluded old brewery on the small island of the Giuedecca, this year the Wales pavilion had moved to the hustle and bustle of Costello, a hop and a skip away from the main Biennale location in the Giardini and the heaving Arsenale – and also home to several Biennale exhibitions. I preferred this setting: a fantastic 16th century former convent, the Ludoteco, Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, with stunning original paintings on its ceilings and a baroque altarpiece which juxtaposed the modernity of the artist’s work very effectively.
I viewed the Wales installations before reading the background information about the artist’s inspirations and intentions to get an uninformed first impression. As art is purely in the eye of the beholder, I can only give my interpretation of the work which was split into several parts and was shown in several rooms within the old convent.
First, Cadet (Running and Parade at Cardiff, 2010), one of a series based on Remembrance Day services, filmed at different locations in the UK. Ruminating on war, a staple theme in art at the Biennale and art in general, the work delivered its message clearly and effectively with various soldiers, sailors and policemen marching past a large monument to the fallen. I was more taken with a colossal work painted by a Greek artist in the Giardini which used Renaissance style painting to illustrate the horrors of modern war from the Holocaust to present day atrocities, but could definitely see what Tim Davies was communicating to the viewer.
A similar work, ‘Cadet‘ (Standing at Aberystwyth, 2006), was quiet and brooding compared to the previous work, with one solitary female cadet standing as still as a monument herself. A poignant reminder that a soldier has to ultimately stand and die alone.
My first impressions of viewing all the works together was that the Cadet installations didn’t really fit in with the rest of the work. But then I discovered that these works had been completed before the artist was commissioned for the Biennale and were stand alone works from his Venice commissions. I personally would have preferred all the works to have been created specifically for the Biennale with a coherent link between them. But Tim Davies was not alone in this as several other artists at the Biennale had thrown in a few ‘freebie’ works to bulk up their exhibitions.
The next work Bridges, presented to the rear of the church, was based on an earlier work with found postcards. The artist had created 60 small and delicate illustrations of various bridges across the world, which were interesting to look at but did not seem to link in with the other works. However, on learning that the artist’s intention was to present a reflection on man’s ability to reinvent and to conquer obstacles, one could argue that the bridges showed man’s ability to create as well as destroy. They also effectively displayed the artist’s delicate touch, an another accomplished skill-set.
Finally, the two works made in Venice specifically for the Biennale, Drift and Frari were revealed. Drift, a video of a solitary male hand trailing in still water, provoked different responses from myself and friends who visited the exhibition. One friend huffed that it was quite tedious to watch a man’s hand trailing in the water, whilst another was soothed and lulled into a daydream watching the hypnotic rhythm (deliberately filmed out of real time). I did not, however, notice the reflections of Venice in the water. I don’t know if this is because I was lulled to a trance by the film, or if the images weren’t clear enough. The artist had intended Drift to show an attempt at touching the “illusive icon of Venice”, but I didn’t pick up on this at all. Attempting to link the installation with the Cadet works, I thought it might show that nature can soothe the troubled beast within warmongering man. But that’s what art is about I guess, giving the work your own interpretation.
Frari was constructed from a series of collaged stills of the steps and ramps of the Campanile of santa Maria dei Frari, a closely guarded listed building in the heart of Venice. It was documented that the artist was given unprecedented access to its bell tower, but we did not really realise or appreciate this visual treat, as the images were presented in jerky and blurry movements, but the soundscape of church bells that filled the acoustic space were very atmospheric and evocative.
Compared to some other exhibitions at Venice which really stood out in innovation, artistic vision and pure wow-factor, the Wales offering was a quieter and more ruminative experience but provoked lively debate amongst myself and my friends. Well worth a visit and a work which invites many different interpretations.
Joanna Davies’s novel, Mr Perffaith (Gomer Press), will be out in all good bookshops from early July.