venice biennale
we took the boys to the 2009 venice biennale. it was such a memorable experience and thoroughly enjoyable. a gorgeous veneto summer day, each pavilion was better than the next. the highlight was the combined show between the scandinavian pavilions that tied their stories together. there was an intricate storyline of a falling out between neighbors that you first confronted when you saw a dead body floating face down in a shallow pool, a pack of cigarettes and a watch at the bottom of the pool. another show was a dark murky walk through russian writers. the only bad experience was the us pavilion, which had a bruce nauman show. they actually had a guy with a clipboard, whose job it was to act as an LA maitre’d – stopping you from entering and warning you not to touch anything. the rest of show is so much about exploring and revealing mysteries – this was a truly american experience. one other highlight was chile – that had a man dressed in a fine suit who would whistle every once in a while and start a whistle and animal sound dialogue with other projections of himself around the other walls of the small space…
