Been thinking about this after seeing a few sound-based installations in Venice recently.
Even when the sound itself is powerful, people seem to engage with it very differently once it’s placed in a gallery/art context instead of a music context. Curious if others feel that too
The Vatican Pavilion at the Venice Biennale this year is built entirely around listening: Jim Jarmusch, Brian Eno, Patti Smith, FKA twigs, all in a space designed to slow you down and really hear.
It made me wonder: even with names like these attached to it, does sound art still feel like the overlooked sibling of video and installation art? Or is that finally starting to change?
Saw a really beautiful sound-focused pavilion in Venice with Brian Eno, Patti Smith, and FKA twigs involved, and it made me realize how much less people talk about sound-based work compared to visual/screen-based stuff
Did anyone else notice how much media art there is at this year’s Venice Biennale?
Finally made it to Venice and honestly didn’t expect to see so much video, projection mapping, multichannel film, sound installations, etc. Feels like screen-based work is kind of everywhere this year.
One piece that really stayed with me was CARMEN: Utopias of Belonging by Ieva Lygnugarytė at Oratorio dei Crociferi.
It’s installed inside an old church and based on this real story where Lithuania tried to send a stuffed bison and a poem to the Pope in the 16th century, but it never arrived and basically disappeared from history.... The whole thing feels very much about who gets seen/heard culturally and who doesn’t.
Would love to know what works people found memorable this year too.
We’ve actually been putting together a free digest of 34 exhibitions around Venice, with a map, since there’s so much happening across the city. Happy to share it in DMs if anyone’s interested.
Did anyone else notice how much media art there is at this year’s Venice Biennale?
Finally made it to Venice and honestly didn’t expect to see so much video, projection mapping, multichannel film, sound installations, etc. Feels like screen-based work is kind of everywhere this year.
One piece that really stayed with me was CARMEN: Utopias of Belonging by Ieva Lygnugarytė at Oratorio dei Crociferi.
It’s installed inside an old church and based on this real story where Lithuania tried to send a stuffed bison and a poem to the Pope in the 16th century, but it never arrived and basically disappeared from history....
The whole thing feels very much about who gets seen/heard culturally and who doesn’t.
We actually ended up making a free guide to 34 moving image & screen-based exhibitions around Venice (+ a map!), because there’s honestly so much to see this year
Would love to know what works people found memorable this year too.