The mammoth scale exhibition in Venice's old ship building quarters was always going to be a long slog to get through, although compared to the previous year it was a lot more fun and accessible.
Again curated by Birnbaum the huge exhibition in the old dockyard begins with an impressive moody light piece by the Brazillian artist Lydia Pape. By using golden threads the pitch black rooms look like a beam of sunlight is illuminating it. This work sets the tone for the show which as with the Giardini was pretty serious and thoughtful. Michelangelo Pistoletto's space was filled with huge large mirrors that I later found out had been intact until the artist went round in smashing them in a furrocious performance during in the first week. One of the largest installations is a full-scare African village by Pascale Marthine Tayou, from the clean predictable white gallery spaces you walk into a straw filled confusion of shacks, projected videos, handmade furniture with small creatures and characters inhabiting them. This work then is juxtaposed completely by Richard Wentworths subtle walking sticks hanging almost invisibly from the walls. Ulla von Brandenburg uses various coloured sheets to partition space and eventually to screen a curious black and white video of a family. Another artist that used colourful partitions with was Cildo Meireles (who had a great show at TATE Modern last year) it involved differently coloured rooms with matching screens showing the same colour which then systematically change.
Moshekwa Langa and Haegue Yang made similar large colourful installations, the former with cotton reels and wool and the later with blinds (as she did in the Korean pavillion in the Giardini).
Some of the best work came from spanish duo Bestué/Vives, their video Actions at Home was a hilarious set of almost fluxus style instructions and challenges for the pair to undertake in their small flat. Sweet and very clever the work had a big crowd. In an out building they also screened this video Proteo which involved some brilliant lo-fi transformations from human to animal to machine. Other works of note included Spencer Finch's light ceiling installation, Pae Whites big string chandelier (bit of a string theme in this year?), William Forsythe's hoops, and Miranda July's sweet but rather weak "Eleven Heavy Things" and the fairytale installations of Sara Ramo
The curated exhibition is coherent and well presented and has a great deal of incredible work in. It was just a shame the other collateral events/pavillions were tacked onto the end, it becomes tiresome and makes the whole experience a bit of an ordeal.
