the ATM organ

Here’s a YouTube video someone posted of the ATM/pipe organ piece, “Algorithm.” The music is actually less interesting in this clip than when I heard it yesterday.

24-hour film

I didn’t get the chance to see any of CHRISTIAN MARCLAY’S 24-hour film in the Arsenale on Saturday, so I’m going to try to catch some of it before wandering the streets of Venice at random.

the Swiss pavilion

I forgot to mention that the Swiss pavilion, featuring THOMAS HIRSCHHORN, was another popular one in the circles in which I was traveling here. A number of people said it was their favorite in the whole Biennale.

Hirschhorn: “I’m interested in the ‘too much,’ doing too much, giving too much, putting too much of an effort into something. Wastefulness as a tool or weapon.”

He certainly lived up to that maxim in this particular exhibit. It was clutter as an art form, like an interstate truck stop turned into a wing of hell.

Miami leads Dallas 2-1

Miami 88-Dallas 86.

It was amusing to follow an NBA season thinking that the new “Big Three” in Miami would need more time to bond and wouldn’t instantly succeed in their title chase.

But now it’s starting to look exactly as we thought it would look last summer. (Except that we all expected the Lakers rather than Dallas to be the opponent.)

and mixed feelings about

Feelings seemed to be mixed, but mostly positive, about the prize-winning German pavilion. Everyone realizes it was one of the better ones, and I’ve heard no one think it was an outrage that it was the winner. Some were really blown away by it, while I and others liked it with reservations.

One thing’s for sure… it’s a piece that was unlikely to come from too many countries other than Germany.

wrapping up

It’s my last day in Venice, and I’ve decided on the “wander randomly and see what happens” plan. The Irish crew has left for the airport, so I’m on my own.

There were debates yesterday afternoon and evening with a number of people about all the pieces in the Giardini. In fact I’ve met only one person besides me so far who liked the French piece by Boltanski. The detractors have a point that the message was a bit heavy-handed, and that it was a bit gimmicky overall. I still enjoyed standing there for long periods of time and watching that thing hum.

Everyone seems to have enjoyed the British pavilion.

Hey, the Danish pavilion was good too. Earlier, in line for the British pavilion, I met a veteran EU diplomat. He told me that the Danish pavilion was “political,” in a slightly dismissive voice, and since he didn’t seem like the sort of person who would oppose political art on principle, I interpreted that as a veiled dig at the quality of it. But actually it was a very well done pavilion, and the cartoon of the three-faced man was one of only two pieces in the whole Biennale to make me laugh out loud (the American ATM pipe organ being the other).

All right, I’m signing off here because this is simply too uncomfortable a place to sit. I’m on a tiny bridge just south of Ponte Rialto. This one has the funny name “Ponte de la Fava,” and it’s the same place I was sitting yesterday morning.

Istanbul again tomorrow, then Cairo.