 Mark Dahle's look back at the 2011 Venice Biennale and tips for visiting in 2013
The 2011 Venice Biennale was held in more than 80 different locations scattered throughout the city. Presumably it will be similar at the next biennale, June through November 2013. If you expect to find all the locations -- or even some of them -- you need to know a little about Venice itself. Venice is two mazes laid on top of each other. In a standard maze, narrow passages lead to dead ends. Venice has plenty of those. Then Venice adds a second layer of complexity. The original maze is placed on top of an equally challenging maze made of water canals. Sometimes there’s a bridge; sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes there’s a landing for water transportation; sometimes there isn’t. On sixty random days (mostly in winter), the most direct route might be flooded.
As a result, the way to where you want to go is never straightforward. Complicating this, all the maps I’ve found have too little detail to be helpful. In Venice, you can be lost a lot of the time. That might not matter so much, since Venice is beautiful, and any section of it is worth exploring. But if you’re going to the 2013 Venice Biennale, you probably want to see art. And to do that you have to find it.
Do not ignore this tip! There’s one you can do one thing that will make an extraordinary difference to your visit to the Venice Biennale: make sure you have a cellphone that can roam in Europe with a GPS map. Before you go, call your cellphone provider, buy an international data plan, and make sure they take off the block on international roaming. If you don’t have a cellphone with a map, I recommend you get one before your trip. Then download the Venice Biennale ap from Christies for free. Zoom in on all the spots of the map before you go; the map will then be stored in memory for your trip. When in Venice, try not to smirk. You’ll be the only tourist in town who can quickly get anywhere. If you want to minimize roaming charges, keep your phone on "airplane mode" except when you're using the map to navigate and when you're making calls.
If you only have a day. What are you thinking? Change your plans! Venice is easily worth a week, and you want to be there three or four days minimum. But if you really only have a day for this incredibly beautiful city, you need to make some choices. If you prefer realistic and religious art painted from 1500 to 1800, get a guidebook from a bookstore or the library, skip the biennale, and enjoy your time. You’ll have lots of great choices. Expect to pay 4 to 20 Euros at each stop. If you prefer architecture, you wouldn't do wrong to just wander around lost all day, traveling on water taxis at random and seeing what you can. Be sure to go inside buildings on your journey; the interiors are often stunning.
If you prefer modern and contemporary art, check this site once the Biennale opens for our recommendations on what to see. Here were my top choices, in 2011: 1) Future Pass: From Asia to the world was the best collection of contemporary art per square foot in the 2011 biennale. 2) My second and third choices weren’t part of the bienniale itself, so you can still see them. At the Salute water taxi stop, turn left. The white building is the Punta della Dogana. The gorgeous interior houses art from the François Pinault Foundation. Buy a ticket for this museum and Palazzo Grassi. The art inside may challenge your ideas about art, but it will be worth it if you spend time with the pieces and the commentaries on them in each room. Jeff Koons fans will love the collection of his sculptures. Don't miss Hanging Heart, in a separate room past the bookstore. Palazzo Grassi is located near water taxi line #1 S. Angelo or line #2 S.Samuele. Be sure to see the two videos by Francesco Vezzoli. Democrazy shows two political ads playing at the same time, a potent mix that is worth viewing multiple times. And Marlene Redux: a True Hollywood Story! is a hilarious parody of television entertainment news. It's a great, great example of multi-leveled video as art. If you aren't laughing, you might be offended. Either way, it'll be worth it.
3) The Biennale has two locations where you don’t need GPS. They’re where I'd head, just because the exhibits are close together and you can maximize your time. If you can only do one of the two sites, I’d go with Arsenale but it’s a tough call and you won’t go wrong if you go to Giardini instead. 
Arsenale. Take a water taxi to Arsenale or San Pietro and follow the signs. Highlights in 2011 included Christian Marclay’s video The Clock (#42 on the map) and James Turrell’s light installation (#29). The Clock is playing at a couple locations around the world, so you may have a chance to see it elsewhere. If so, pull up a chair and plan on being delighted and intrigued by a collection of movie clips that work their way through the hours of the day, one minute at a time. Sit as long as you like; it’s a 24-hour video. In the India pavilion a highlight was riding on Gigi Scaria's Elevator from the Sub-continent. 
This wax statue at Arsenale may not be much by the time you see it. Giardini. Take the water taxi to Giardini or Biennale. When you enter, you'll get a map. One side of the map has a 1 in a box in the upper left. That's where you are. If your time is limited, go straight to the section of black diagonal lines, 1A, the Padiglione Centrale. This has the largest collection of diverse artists. In 2011 it included The Others, Maurizio Cattelan’s 2000 pigeons.
Six of the 2000 pigeons above people's heads at the Padiglione Centrale in 2011. Also visit: * The France pavilion had a great installation titled “Chance.” With all the metal rollers spinning noisily, you could hear it before you saw it. 
Chance by Christian Boltanski. * The Padiglione Venezia (P.VE), had a series of boats worth visiting (Vertical Seas by Fabrizio Plessi). * My personal favorite could be guessed by anyone familiar with my photography; Gott liebt die Serba was an incredibly beautiful installation, and Gott Liebt die Serba 1 was very powerful as well. Both were in the Serbia pavilion. 
Detail of Gott liebt die Serba, Venice Biennale 2011. If you’re a fan of video, Finland (FIN) and Poland (PL) both had video worth checking out, and there was an interesting short animated film Quatrosopos in the Denmark pavilion (DK).
Venice Biennale 2011 video (Quatrosopos by Han Hoogerbrugge). 
Detail of Imposition Symphony, 2011, a large mural by Stelios Faitakis on an outside wall of the Danish Pavilion in the Giardini section. If you have more than a day. Get out your walking shoes and your cell phone with GPS and Christies ap. Then enjoy your exploring! There's enough to fill at least five days. If you don't have GPS, find what you can and enjoy the time you're lost. It's a beautiful city. What day to visit. The 55th International Art Exhibition will be open June through November 2013. Most venues close either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, so if you're in Venice one of those days plan your excursions accordingly. On Sunday almost everything is open. On Monday, the Arsenale and Giardini sections of the biennale will be closed. But if Monday's your day, there are enough other places open to fill your time. On Tuesday, the Punta della Dogana, Palazzo Grassi and Peggy Guggenheim Collection are closed. Don't worry if you're in town any of those days; what's open will be more than enough to fill your day with great art. Other pages you might be interested in:
|
|
Venice laundry. © Mark Dahle 2011.