We’ve been away again and this time to the Berlin biennale! It wasn’t nearly as good as the previous one which we enjoyed massively due to DIS being the curators. The smaller show were fairly mediocre although we did see a really clever work by John Smith (although would you ever expect anything less?). The film is linked below and we won’t spoil it but it’s only four minutes long and dies a great job of exploring our response to stereotypes - aural, visual and ideological. Smith signals these stereotypes to the viewer through a chiefly associational system, which deftly manipulates the path of our expectations. The structure is stunningly simple and deceptively subtle. We are taken on a journey from one concrete stereotype to its diametric opposite, as images transform and juxtapose to, ultimately, invert our interpretation of what we see and hear.
What we did find very impressive was the bigger museum shows such as Philippe Parreno’s amazing show at Gropius Bau. The whole exhibition was all one living organism that can be set in motion by light, sounds and images. The was very little focus on the individual object, but rather on the choreographed interaction between the various components. The application of chance principles allows the exhibition to develop and change over a certain period of time, so that the work comes to life and generates an eerie presence. Performative moments ensue; the objects produce something more than the sum of their parts – a choreography of absence and presence that challenges our knowledge of the simultaneity of things and their control. The exhibition is conceived as a synthesis of artistic disciplines. It was truly an experiential time and not one to be missed!
