May 12
Today is raining for the entire day. Anita is giving a calligraphy workshop at the gallery but given that I have friends in Venice who leave soon I want to be with them and also see more of the Biennale. With Anita in the gallery, I walk with Daniela to the Arsenale site under a large umbrella and very well wrapped up. It is colder here than in London and New York – I’m informed by numerous happy people reporting from England.
By the time we arrive at Arsenale my feet are wet, the weekend crowds are thick and my cold is streaming. Daniela’s time is short here so she heads inside but I still have three weeks to see the main sites so I go to some of the nearby collateral exhibitions, which are ticket-free. The first is Mongolia’s exhibition titled A Temporality. The artist is Los Angeles-based Mongolian artist Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar who has invited German guest artist Carsten Nicolai, aka Alva Noto (with the participation of Mongolian throat singers N.Ashit, Kh.Damdin, A.Undarmaa, D.Davaasuren). It is located in the alleyway of Calle del Forno, Castello – between the Arsenale and Giardini sites. I am immediately drawn in. I love the sound of Mongolian throat singing and sometimes use it in my own sonic works. It’s a vocalising technique, which the exhibition describes as being ‘used to communicate with inner selves, surroundings, and nature’. The sonic work plays throughout the slightly damp, cavernous former bakery. Carsten Nicolai translates the ancient technique into a more contemporary art form although there is no explanation as to what makes the process and outcome contemporary rather than ancient and I am left wondering. Jantsankhorol works are huge textured black or cream sculptures with red light emitting from inside or behind them. They remind me of primitive life forms or otherwise futuristic – worms or possibly plants. They have a disturbing feel to them as they take over space – hanging from the ceiling of one room rendering it impossible to enter. It is an immersive installation that activates feelings for me, rather than thoughts.
The rest of my day is spent catching up with friends who are due to leave Venice very soon. This week I have a performance at my own exhibition on Wednesday evening from 7:00 – 8:30 pm with British musician Paul Morgan and there are things in the gallery that I still need to set up. Another set of friends will be arriving over the next couple of days. It would be very easy not to rest at all here in Venice at this time, but my cold is forcing me to head home and sleep early.
