It appears that the two principal forces keeping sculpture alive today are: firstly, the art market which always needs new objects to sell; and, secondly, the art education system which is largely unable to provide students with skills in the newer media that are more able to critically communicate in the culture in which we live. It was the sculptor Carl Andre who said why produce new objects when there are already too many, but if you can turn them into gold, and it doesn’t really matter what they look like, then why complain? (more…)
One of the more interesting works on view in the Neue Nationalgalerie was Mine, Ours, Everywhere II, 2008, by Isabel Lima. This consisted of a small square canvas (click image left) that carried various dirt marks on its surface which tied in extremely well with Thea Djordjadze’s enormous dirty window, which was one of the highpoints of the Neue Nationalgalerie aspect of the Berlin Biennial. One of the rather odd things about Mine, Ours, Everywhere II was that it was accompanied by a label. This was strange because none of the other works in the exhibition had labels. (more…)
There are three main venues for the Berlin Biennial and in my last post I dealt with the main venue, the KW Institute. In this post I will attempt to tackle the work on exhibition at the Neue Nationalgalerie. However, my ability to do so is hindered by the fact that in this particular venue it was difficult to know who did what because there were no labels. Instead, the visitor is provided with a rather cryptic “map” in the Biennial leaflet. The map is populated by shapes that sometimes appeared unrelated to what was there; it is the worst mode of navigating an exhibition that I have experienced (click on thumbnail image left). (more…)
The most engaging works in the KW aspect of the 5th Berlin Biennial were predominently videos. I have already posted on the best of these and from the hits on YouTube you appear to agree with me that Ania Molska, is especially praiseworthy, and I would add Patricia Esquivias‘ Folklore #1 which becomes more significant (from a socio-aesthetic standpoint) the more I think about it. David Maljkovic’s video Lost Memories from These Days also deserves honourable mention, because it is a little social-critical gem, especially as we approach the fortieth anniversary of May 1968. (more…)
I found Manon De Boer’s contribution to the 5th Berlin Biennial Two Times 4′33″, 2007-8 significant not because I liked it—I thought it was tedious—but because it is an especially clear sign of the degeneration of conceptual art into pretentiousness, self-absorption, and repetition. This was not a work of art at all, it was a non-musical, non-performance with a banal attempt at art tacked on at the end. (more…)
In previous posts on the Biennial I have focused on video, in this post I will treat the work of Czech artist Katerina Šedá which was the best sculptural material on exhibition in the Biennial’s principal venue, the KW Institute. In addition, Šedá also had an apparently related grunge sculptural installation in the Skulpturenpark, which was accompanied by a document (see end of post) which suggested that it might have some kind of “social” aspect, although this was expressed in a very vague manner. (more…)
Ania Molska’s two video projections W=F*s (work), 2008, and P=W:t (power), 2007-2008 were projected onto corner walls in the KW Institute so as to function as a single video installation. It was a very effective combination. (more…)
David Maljkovic’s video Lost Memories from These Days, 2006-2008 (6min loop)—exhibited in the KW Institute at the 5th Berlin Biennial, 2008—is quite a remarkable deconstruction of advertising spectacle. Like most quality art it is simple in conception. Instead of prostrating themselves in a state of orgasmic rapture on the cars in this particular advertisement-like mise-en-scene, the female models appear to be bored to death. (more…)
It is a little bit of a shock seeing the 5th Berlin Biennial’s so-called “sculpturepark” (click image left), and it has to be added immediately that there are things going on around the corner, a video about a woman who fell in love with the Berlin wall and a sound installation by Susan Hiller; one has to follow the Biennial map for the park. But this piece of wasteland is indeed a bona fide part of the 5th Berlin Biennial. As such, as visitors, we thought we would use the wasteland sculpturepark as an opportunity to make our own contributions to the Biennale: which I think is in the spirit of truly progressive contemporary art, view on: (more…)
It appears that the two principal forces keeping sculpture alive today are: firstly, the art market which always needs new objects to sell; and, secondly, the art education system which is largely unable to provide students with skills in the newer media that are more able to critically communicate in the culture in which we live. It was the sculptor Carl Andre who said why produce new objects when there are already too many, but if you can turn them into gold, and it doesn’t really matter what they look like, then why complain? (more…)
