Biennale of Sydney Part 2 - Artspace & AGNSW

The Biennale of Sydney is turning out to be quite lacklustre. My second trip was to Artspace at Woolloomooloo and the Art Gallery of NSW, and in both venues I was tremendously underwhelmed.

Artspace offered little more than a disproportionately large amount of long, esoteric, uninspired video works that, let’s face it, no-one is going to sit around for hours on end to watch. One of only two points of interest was situated opposite the entrance, where visitors are confronted by a visually stunning and large scale photo montage by Lebanese artist Lara Baladi. But upon closer inspection, even this struggled to go any deeper than simple collage and pastiche. The other point of interest is the makeshift ‘bar’ setting that is an experimental performance space co-curated by Tokyo’s SuperDeluxe group. One of the main events is the weekly PechaKucha nights where people gather to present thoughts, ideas and good old conversation. It is an interesting project which harnesses the principles of Nicholas Bourriaud’s theory of Relational Aesthetics which posits that the art work only exists with the cooperation and participation of viewers.

A short drive away, the AGNSW hosts a modest display of works by seven Asian artists, all neatly placed in the entrance hall. Again, while the other works weren’t so bad, only two works here managed to really grab my attention. The first was Rabiq Shaw’s ‘The mild-eyed melancholy of the lotus eaters III’, a grand and grandiosely-decorated painting of grotesque anthropomorphic creatures portrayed with stunning vibrancy and flashy metallics. The biennale’s guide writes that, “Despite its deeply historical visual allusions, Shaw’s beautiful treatment of transmogrification in erotic desire can be read as a contemporary allegory of human greed and lust.” While I did not quite pick all this up from one viewing, I still found the violent images, arranged in such stunning fashion, to be visually mesmerising and surreal. On the other hand, Yamaguchi Akira’s sombre, monochromatic cityscapes, painted in traditional Japanese style presents a seamless amalgamation of the duality between East and West in many modern Asian cities. While lacking the brilliant colours and bold imagery of Shaw’s ‘Lotus eaters’ Akira’s paintings communicate just as clearly the intersection between tradition and urbanity with understated style.

Despite these rare gems, disappointment was, once again, the overwhelming result of another visit to the biennale. Predominately a result of vague artwork selections and too many video works. My last stop is Cockatoo Island, apparently the pièce de résistance of the biennale. Hopefully it can salvage my once high hopes for the event. [Images from http://media.biennaleofsydney.com.au/ and http://theartlife.com.au/]

Eminem - Recovery

Eminem’s new album ‘Recovery’ has brought him out of the abyss of washed-up obscurity. After years of problems, which included two mediocre and quite shallow albums, Eminem has come back with a record that is reminiscent of the success and quality of the ‘Marshall Mathers LP’.

The album is rife with the introspection, self-reflexivity and verbal acrobatics that is characteristic of Eminem’s style. Here the artist is harshly honest, to the point of self-deprecation (at one point he refers to himself as ‘the shit stain on the underwear of life’ – I couldn’t help but lol), as he reflects on the demons and absolute lows of his life in recent years, and the more positive transformation he hopes to make with the release of the album, and a new outlook on life. But don’t expect such optimism to be accompanied by happy beats and cheery lyrics. For even in expressing his hopes for the future, Eminem maintains that edgy, ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude that we’ve come to know so well.

The second track, ‘Talkin’ 2 Myself’, is one of the best and most powerful, and sets the tone for the entire record. Like much of the album, the track is deeply confessional as it reveals Eminem’s demons and his deepest darkest thoughts as he was wallowed up in the hole of self pity. It is part internal dialogue, and part address to the public on where Eminem has been and where he intends to go. The song not only recounts the drug-fuelled struggles the artist has had over the years, but also critiques his actions. At one point Eminem admits to having considered writing a song dissing Lil’ Wayne and Kanye West out of pure jealousy, but didn’t because “I’da had my ass handed to me, and I knew it.” But Eminem emerges from the dark abyss, recalling how he finally snapped out of it and said to himself, “instead of feelin’ sorry for yourself do somethin’ ‘bout it / admit you got a problem, your brain is clouded you pouted / long enough, it isn’t them it’s you you fuckin’ baby / quit worryin’ about what they do and do Shady.” The song fittingly ends with the proclamation “to everybody else...I’m back!”

This is truly one of the great comeback albums. Not only does it contain the very necessary commercial appeal, through collaborations with some very big names, but it also has the much more important ingredients of real creativity and honest song writing that makes an artistically successful record. Some songs are uncomfortably confessional, others are outrageously hilarious in their social commentaries and inversion of the English language, and finally one is a touching tribute to the rapper’s slain friend and band mate Proof. Whatever your thoughts on Eminem and his controversial public image, one cannot deny, particularly after listening to this album, that he is one of those rare artists who can transform internal thoughts into poetic lyrics, and finally into an awesome rap.

[Check out another really good review on the album, http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/eminem-recovery-20100625-z98t.html - I think it says it better.]

Biennale of Sydney Part 1 - Museum of Contemporary Arts

This year the Biennale of Sydney is titled, ‘The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age’, and its most concentrated venue is the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MCA), down at Circular Quay, which houses 285 works by 92 international and Australian artists. This was an extremely ambitious exhibition site, with all four levels of the museum jam-packed with artworks and visitors. While the large number of visitors is a promising reflection on the success of the event, the equally vast amount of artworks made much of the venue seem overcrowded, thus stripping the exhibition of any real direction, despite the very specific theme.

Indeed, walking through the MCA (one of many venues of the BoS) was like that very familiar experience of walking through a generic, mainstream supermarket (a common metaphor now linked with the experience of many international biennials). I mainly browsed through the aisles, quickly taking in what was on offer – the ordinary ‘fillers’ that take up a lot of shelf space but really are unnecessary – lingered on the interesting items, and only stopped to pick up the really good things. In fact, amongst all 285 works, I only really enjoyed works by three artists, and absolutely detested one.

Christian Jankowski’s ‘Tableaux Vivant’ was one work which absolutely delighted me, and that’s saying a lot given my intolerance for video works. This was a clever, complex, yet humorous exploration into the many processes behind creating a biennale art work. In this, Jankowski has brought together the main television networks, along with some very big names in the art industry, into his quasi-documentary of the creation of this work, ‘Tableaux Vivant.’ The work goes through all the processes of art making in a television context, with real-life journalists reporting on all aspects of the development; from conceptual inception, to filming and editing, publicity, even the mid-work angst an artist feels when they are immersed in their work and can’t find a way out.

Funnily enough, another work that I loved was also a video work, and something very different from Jankowski’s. The artist is Thai-born Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, and if you think her name is a lot to take in, her video work is even more overwhelming. ‘The Two Planets Series ‘ is enclosed in a room where three walls make up the screens for three different videos playing simultaneously. The clips showThai peasants conversing over canonical works of modern art. Manet’s once-controversial ‘Luncheon on the Grass’ is controversial again, while van Gogh’s ‘The Midday Sleep’ and Millet’s ‘The Gleaners’ elicit conversations about farming, village talent quests and what ‘those people’ do as opposed to ‘us’. The work is an intriguing and unique approach to exploring the whole ‘planet’ of difference between the two worlds of the ‘cultured’ West and the rural East. If not for its revelation of such vast differences, then the work is worth staying and watching just to listen in on the hilarious conversations between the villagers.

Kent Monkman’s beautifully painted and grandly scaled works challenge the very entrenched and deeply distorted Euro-American history of colonialism. These paintings, magnificently composed and encompassing a vast spectrum of natural and artificial colours combine mythical, homo-erotic beings with an appropriated colonial style in a clever parody on the widely-accepted, yet quietly acknowledged one-sided history that such ‘New World’ paintings originally told. Here, the painter’s immense skill is presented with stinging socio-historical commentaries on the traditional ‘Cowboys and Indians’ stories. The paintings are magnificent.

These anomalies aside, the other 280 works in the MCA were mainly interesting at best, ordinary and uninspiring at times, and completely irrelevant at worst. Perhaps I would have found more inspiration in more works if I wasn’t so bombarded by the immense amount of artworks. So far, the over-ambitious scale of the MCA has fallen short of realising the theme of the Biennale. Stay tuned to see what the other venues have in store. [Images from http://www.artnet.com/, http://blog.cofa.unsw.edu.au/, http://bos17.sitesuite.net.au/]

Nas & Damien 'Jr Gong' Marley - Distant Relatives

‘Distant Relatives’ is a full collaborative effort between Nas and Damien ‘Jr Gong’ Marley which, as the artists explain, “explore and celebrate the correlations and deep-rooted connections between reggae and hip hop, tracing both sounds back to the African motherland that is both the cradle of humanity and the wellspring of mankindʼs music.” (check out their myspace) Such a monumental task has been achieved in this record which comprises a seamless amalgamation of hip hop and reggae beats, along with some very well-written and provocative lyrics.

The album packs a lot into an average-lengthed recording. Exploring a myriad of issues – from diaspora and displacement, to family and friends, and finally to religion and even the origin of humanity – the songs are highly political, deeply reflective, historically contentious, acutely aware of social forces, and didactic enough for an attuned listener to sit up and pay attention. All this without being overly-serious and completely accusatory.

This is an extremely well-composed piece of storytelling. The songs are great compositions in their own right, combining well-written poetic verse, with some extremely funky and varied beats, which range from tribal to up lifting. But together, the tracks tell a poignant and conflicting story of the African people; their history, culture, oppression, and finally their (impending) freedom. For example, the final track, ‘Africa must wake up’, charts the long history of the continent from its glorious past to its displaced present, making some confronting claims throughout. Nas asks, “Who are we today? / The slums/ Deceases / AIDS...Our Diaspora/ Is the final chapter / The ancestral lineage / Built pyramids / America’s first immigrant / The King’s son and daughters / From Nile waters / The first architect / The first philosophers / Astronomers / The first prophets and the doctors was us.”

There is much to say, and much to discover in this extremely unique and multifaceted ode to reggae, hip hop and the African motherland. Needless to say, this is what good music should do – incite passion, provoke revolutionary thought, and instill an awareness of society and, not only its ills but also, its redemptive capacity. [image from http://www.realhiphopsince79.com/]

Once Removed

This group show, curated by Felicity Fenner, was exhibited at the 53rd Venice Biennale last year, representing Australia in the art world’s main event. The three installations in 'Once Removed' all refer “to aspects of place and the predicament of displacement...of individuals, communities and entire racial groups” (Fenner, 2009). Such a global phenomenon is familiar to many of us, and especially poignant to the peoples of Australia, who, whether recently or in generations passed, have come to this land from foreign countries. The myriad experiences of this phenomenon is firstly manifested through the selection of artists; Vernon Ah Kee is an Indigenous Australian with Chinese ancestry, Claire Healy is Caucasian and born in Melbourne, her collaborative partner Sean Cordeiro is Asian-Australian and born in Sydney, while Ken Yonetani was born in Tokyo and now lives in Katoomba. While the works in this exhibition have artistic strength and conceptual sophistication in their own right, thus representing the many ways in which we are all different, with our individual identities and backgrounds; together, they also show the way in which, essentially, we are all the same in our journey through the contemporary world and the multi-faceted dimensions of humanity.

Ah Kee’s ‘Cant Chant’ is an elaborate, multi-pieced installation which plays out the intersection between Aboriginal tradition and Australian culture and the very conflicted historical background on which such confrontations take place. Ah Kee’s video shows members of his family surfing at the iconic Surfer’s Paradise on boards which have a segment of their faces on one side, and Aboriginal patterns on the other. These boards have subsequently been hung in the gallery amongst white walls with the artist’s signature bold black statements.

‘Life Span’, by Healy and Cordeiro, is monumental not only in concept, but also in execution and of course size. A huge solid cube made up of 195 774 VHS tapes, the work is a literal representation of an average person’s lifespan of 66.1 years – that’s how long it would take to watch all these videos. Evoking the grandness of the church in which it originally stood at Venice, without of course the same aesthetic appeal, the cube stands stoically over those who view it, overwhelming us with its presence and the thought that, if your life was to look like one single thing, then perhaps this is what it would be. Such a thought is both disconcerting, yet oddly comforting.

Finally, my favourite installation would have to be Yonetani’s ‘Sweet Barrier Reef’, a work which has the grace and delicate beauty of a traditional painting, with the conceptual sting and socio-political commentary of art that is conscious of its time. Made entirely from white sugar and modelled on the form of a Japanese Zen garden, the work casts a light on the little-known environmental crime of coral bleaching by the sugar industry. While the work looks absolutely beautiful and serene, the knowledge of its context evokes, what Fenner describes as, “a post-apocalyptic landscape in which everything is bleached white and has perished.” The fragility of this work, and hence the increasingly frail environment it represents, is made even more apparent by the sugar, which appears to hold the entire work together but can break away or become deformed from a single touch (as I learned when my two-year-old stuck his fingers into the edge of the work).

Of course, these works require much more time and depth to adequately understand their complexities and the comments they have to make on individual and community experiences. Unfortunately, what I have here will have to suffice. The exhibition is currently showing at the Campbelltown Arts Centre until the beginning of August, so check it out, it’s well worth the trip! [Images from ozarts.com.au and balnavesfoundation.com]