Performances at Arsenale
A series of performances in occasion of 56th Venice Biennale closing.
Programme:
Allora & Calzadilla
b. 1974 USA / 1971 Cuba
In the Midst of Things (30’)
performance by a vocal octet
Courtesy Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Kurimanzutto, Mexico City; Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels; Lisson Gallery, London, Milan and New York
Corderie – Arsenale
November 20th, 12.30 pm / 3.00 pm
November 21st, 12.30 pm / 3.00 pm
November 22nd, 12.30 pm / 3.00 pm
Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla present In the Midst of Things, a new vocal work with music by Gene Coleman performed by Voxnova Italia and based on “The Creation (Die Schöpfung)” (1796–1798) by Joseph Haydn. The Creation’s libretto draws on accounts from the book of Genesis and Milton’s “Paradise Lost” (1667), which describe the origins of the world and humankind. Milton’s poem relates the story of the Fall of Man, following the epic tradition of starting in medias res, after the action has already begun and with the background recounted later. In the Midst of Things applies various narrative techniques—such as reverse chronology, flashback, and flash-forward—as structural devices in the composition. These techniques are further emphasized through parallel stage movements. The singers physically move forward or backward depending on whether they are singing parts of the libretto forward or in reverse. The performance explores how new meaning can be generated by pushing language to its limits. The resulting combination of alien, yet structurally coupled sounds and words open this famous oratorio to a reconsideration of humankind’s origins and time itself.
Composition by Gene Coleman
Performed by Voxnova Italia: Nicholas Isherwood (artistic director, basso), Susanna Rigacci (soprano), Ljuba Bergamelli (soprano), Livia Rado (soprano), Monica Benvenuti (mezzo soprano), Anna Clementi (mezzo soprano), Virginia Guidi (mezzo soprano), Elisa Prosper (mezzo soprano), Sandro Naglia (tenore), Mirko Guadagnini (tenore), Vincenzo Di Donato (tenore), Alessandro Tamiozzo (tenore), Gabriele Ribis (baritono), Matteo Bellotto (baritino) and Oliviero Giorgiutti (basso)
Ricardo Brey
b. 1955 Cuba
Every Life Is a Fire (approx. 30’)
Courtesy the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels
Corderie – Arsenale
November 20th, 4.00 pm
In a series of three performances, Ricardo Brey will expand his presentation at the Biennale by adding and unfurling three new works. The archival boxes comprising Every life is a fire reveal their inner life only upon their unfolding. At first sight recalling Marcel Duchamp’s “Boîte-en-valise” (1935–1941), Brey’s miniature worlds cradled in layers of cardboard seem more akin to an alchemist’s tool case. Brey himself describes the boxes and ‘reliquaries’ as Lagerstätten, a term used by paleontologists to designate geological strata that provide information on the biodiversity of a given period.
Marco Fusinato
b. 1964 Australia
From the Horde to the Bee
Corderie – Arsenale
November 22nd, 5.30 pm
Marco Fusinato will conclude his project From the Horde to the Bee in the last hours of the Exhibition. He will gather the accumulated cash into bags and hand it to representatives of the Archive Primo Moroni, Milan. From the Horde to the Bee (2015) is an event designed to redirect capital from the art event to the Archivio Primo Moroni in Milan. The title of this event references the opening and closing pages of a book that Fusinato produced with materials from the Moroni archive, which is a self-organized institution housed in a squat. At the Biennale Arte 2015 the entire print run of Fusinato’s book is laid out along the outer edges of a large table at the Corderie of the Arsenale. With no vendors to monitor the transactions, visitors are encouraged to purchase copies of the anthology by placing their money at the center of the table. As the stacks of books gradually diminish, the growing volume of cash will mirror the economic activity in the exhibition place. By lending visibility to monetary flows while releasing them from surveillance, the artist points his audiences to their responsibility for the economic structures in which they are implicated.
Tania Bruguera
b. 1968 Cuba
Untitled (Havana 2000)
Sala d’Armi G – Arsenale
November 20th, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
November 21st, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
November 22nd, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
Tania Bruguera will re-create her performance and video installation Untitled (Havana, 2000), which reflects on citizens’ intentional “blindness” to the reality of life under Fidel Castro’s regime. Through a multi-sensory experience, spectators will discover a reality full of contradictions.
Dora Garcia
b. 1965 Spain
The Sinthome Score
Artiglierie – Arsenale
November 20th, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
November 21st, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
November 22nd, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
Dora García proposes ten sets of movements for each of the ten chapters in Jacques Lacan’s “Joyce The Sinthome”, which functions as a real score, ready to be performed by anyone. It is conceived as a duo performance, where one reads and the other executes the sets of movements; although visitors can just as readily pick up a copy of the score and join in the reading or the movement parts. The Sinthome Score, however, will be a continuous, uninterrupted performance, independent of the presence of an audience.
Joachim Schoenfelt
b. 1958 South Africa
Guilds and Unions (approx. 7’)
Giardino delle Vergini – Arsenale
November 21st, 12.30 pm
performers: Linda Buthelezi
The guitarist arrives with his equipment and hoists the amplifier up a flagpole and start playing his rendering of our national anthem ala Jimi Hendrix’s rendering of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock. The 2 flags titled “The colours of the jockey for the horse Sea Cottage” are dropped to the ground at the end of the performance.
Saâdane Afif
b. 1970 France
The Laguna’s Tribute (A Corner Speaker in Venice)
Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Longo
November 20th, 4.35 pm
November 21st, 4.35 pm
November 22nd, 4.35 pm
Sunset live performance of songs and texts by Saâdane Afif
performers: Ildo Bonato / Luca Hillen
Defined as post-conceptual, Saâdane Afif’s work assumes many different shapes, among which the performance. In Venice, the artist (Vendôme, France, 1970) presents The Laguna’s Tribute (A Corner Speaker in Venice), a live performance held at the Ponte Longo in the Zattere area.
fri 11/20/15 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; sat 11/21/15 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; sun, sun, sun, sun, sun 11/22/15 10:00 am – 6:00 pm