"It’s hard to think of a better analogue for the opening week of the Biennale:Where else do you see so many tourists wandering around with ice cream cones, bouncing between interminable lines for internationally themed attractions? And like Disneyland, it peddles a fantasy-of art as a benevolent instrument of feel-good internationalism (“it’s a small world after all,” one thinks, racing to receptions for Cyprus, the Baltics, Germany, and Brazil, and Australia in a single night), but also that it can perform that role at a remove, appearing as a nation's representative without serving its political interests."
"The most spectacular attraction at this year's Biennale is Holzinger's Austrian pavilion at the Giardini, “SEAWORLD VENICE,” the centerpiece of which is a performer submerged in a tank full of recycled urine, allegedly derived from “donations” that visitors can deposit in Portapotties flanking either side. As Holzinger describes, her dream was to dump the pavilion in the lagoon; the waterlogged Études, a handful of which will be performed throughout the Biennale's run, are a nod to this unrealizable conceit."
"Staged on a barge in the middle of the water, with the audience watching from a floating platform nearby, the one I saw involved a nude metal band playing around and atop a crane, a performer suspended from two hook piercings in her back, and, in the final minutes, the artist herself suddenly rising Houdini-like from the lagoon's polluted depths, dangling upside down from a church bell that she rang by banging its sides with her bare torso."
The opening week of the Biennale resembles a tourist attraction, with visitors moving between lines and receptions for many countries. The event presents art as a benevolent instrument of internationalism, creating a fantasy of shared cultural goodwill. Representation can occur at a distance, allowing a nation to appear present without advancing its political interests. The most spectacular attraction is Florentina Holzinger’s Austrian pavilion, “SEAWORLD VENICE,” centered on a performer submerged in a tank of recycled urine. Visitors can allegedly contribute by depositing donations in Portapotties near the pavilion. The staged work includes performers on a barge, a nude metal band, a suspended performer, and Holzinger rising from the lagoon while dangling upside down from a church bell.
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