The gang of Exceptionally Cool Biennial Project Artists that have just returned from our exhilarating trip to Venice for the press preview week of the Venice Biennale have each agreed to write for you about one exhibit that they really liked - proving that we artists can use our words too (sometimes anyway!). Here's What We Saw, What We Liked - Part One.

RUSSIAN PAVILION, by Charlene Liska

"No two people see the same Biennale, given the several thousand exhibits. Venice is momentary, fragmentary, a hope of chance sights that will hold fast in memory," says Laura Cumming of The Observer. So, stuck in my memory along with a handful of other exhibits (notably several wonderful uses of water and sound) is the Russian pavilion's ‘Theatrum Orbis,’ which references the first modern atlas. With the ambitious aim of spanning the world, the show features three separate pieces on 3 levels, by Grisha Bruskin, Recycle Group, and Sasha Pirogova. Of the three, I was particularly blown away by 'Scene Change' by Grisha Bruskin. It's a marvel of what you can do with black and white, what worlds it can span, how much more expressive and emotionally challenging it can be than ordinary color. In a darkened, domed space, white statues, some archaic, some surreal and futuristic, ring the walls, alternately harshly illuminated in raking light and plunged into darkness. Projected over and above the statues is a richly black and white animation of marching automatons, beginning with one individual, increasing to a horde, ultimately swarmed by fanciful airborne devices.  Sound builds from a low murmur  to shouts, roars, engine noises, finally to an hypnotic din. Are these multitudes contemporary freedom-fighters? Fascist brigades? Futuristic automatons? It is a deafening, mysterious, and sinister tour de force. In 'Scene Change', per Bruskin, "there is no movement whatsoever, be it from old to new, from primitive to complex, or from worse to better". What I love about this piece, with its great beauty and visceral allure that simultaneously attract and repel, is that it is also a sly reminder that such aesthetic thrills can cut both ways between sublime swoon, innocent enthusiasm ("Go team!"), and Riefenstahl-like enchantment. It's very old, but it's all still in there.

FINNISH PAVILION by Wayne Chisnall

photo by Satu Nurmio / Yle

Re-imagining Finish society, and its stereotypes, through the eyes of two terraforming higher beings (Gen and Atum), Nathaniel Mellors and Erkka Nissinen provide the comedic highlight of this year's Venice Biennale. Unlike many a video installation, where three minutes can feel like three hours, their almost an hour-long piece, The Aalto Natives, leaves you wanting more. Much of this is down to the fact that the video element of the installation (there's also a delightful animatronics element) follows a traditional, if somewhat odd ball, narrative. Occupying a space somewhere between The Mighty Boosh, The Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy, and a demented version of The Muppet Show, Mellors' and Nissinen's satirical sci-fi fairy tale will leave you smiling long after you've forgotten the majority of what's on offer at Venice Biennale 2017.

waynechisnall.com flickr.com/photos/waynechisnall instagram.com/WayneChisnall twitter.com/WayneChisnall

CZECH AND SLOVAC PAVILION by Rob Mackenzie

Rebounding from the political tone of recent Biennals, curator Christine Macel titled the 57th iteration "Viva Arte Viva," remarking, "It’s about art by artists for artists." But the show has always been about what artists want to say to each other and to the world. Jana Želibská’s installation at the Czech/Slovak Pavilion in Giardini speaks plainly about reflection and hope in the face of imminent political and ecological cataclysm.

Entering her pavilion one detours around a container jammed with flotsam. Inside, an array of luminous swans rests placidly on neat islets of coiled rope, backed by a projection of restless waves.

Like so many other voices here celebrating the art that makes us human, Želibská defines apocalypse as "a revealing of mysteries that brings a radical change in the ordering of the world," as she puts it. But her title, Swan Song Now, amid the continuing exodus of Venetian locals from their sinking ship, speaks more loudly, less hopefully.   

rmackenzieart.com

GREEK PAVILION by Nick DI Stefano

Can the old and the new live together? Should tradition or the familiar have to make way for progress and the uncertainty that comes with it? Addressing current global sociopolitical issues (with a backdrop of ongoing refugee crises, rising nationalistic and partisan politics, and the economic issues of Greece and the EU at large) the work deals with the anguish and confusion of individuals and social groups when called upon to address similar dilemmas. Presenting viewers with the arguments, the onus is on action. With a classic yet efficient plan, artist George Rivas turns the Greek pavilion into an allegory of today’s scientific, geopolitic and demographic issues with a clear allusion to migratory flows.

Part of a collection of interactive pieces presented at the Biennale, George Drivas’ Laboratory of Dilemmas draws on the structure of ancient Greek drama and is presented on screens and as audio through an installation divided into three parts: the Upper Level, the Lower Level/Labyrinth and the Screening Room. The narrative and installation are based on Aeschylus’ theatre play Iketides (Suppliant Women), written between 463 and 464 BC and the first known literary text to reflect on the issues of a persecuted group of people seeking asylum.

The Suppliants, having left Egypt to avoid marrying their first cousins, arrive in city of Argos and seek asylum from its King. The King’s dilemma is central to the play: CONTINUE READING HERE

GEORGIAN PAVILION by Anna Salmeron

photo by Paul Weiner

Living Dog Among Dead Lions "While someone is among the living, hope remains, such it is better to be a living dog than to be a dead lion." Ecclesiastes 9:4.

I have one rule about looking at art, and that is to always look at it first. Only if I like something about it I will then proceed to the artist's statement. Of course I know that art can be deepened by words of explanation, but call me old-fashioned in insisting that no amount of grad-school parlance can conjure something into being from work that is not compelling on it's own.

This rule has served me especially well at the fire hose of art that is the Venice Biennale, where one must have some kind of system to have any hope of progressing through such a bewildering amount of work.  Artistic projects large and small  (mostly large) come flying by so furiously that one can be forgiven for wondering if the resurrection itself might pass by unnoticed in such an environment. But then again, any kind of resurrection worth seeing would be able to get your attention anywhere, wouldn't it?

Of course it would. Faith, ye pilgrim.

And so it was that while winding my way through the seemingly unending procession of art installations that is exhibited in the Venice Arsenale during the Biennale, I suddenly came upon this house. This sad old rundown broken-hearted hill house, someplace where all your sad old rundown brokenhearted ancestors toiled and dreamed and then, well, died.  A house that is is pitch perfect in it's melancholy evocation of life and loss. And in a masterful inversion of all the adolescent let's-play-with-water-because-it's Venice-after-all-and we-are-so-you-know-site-specific (here's looking at you Canadian Pavilion), it is raining inside the house. Nice and sunny and prosecco-laden outside, but raining forever inside the little house. Forever, or for at least for the six months that the Venice Biennale runs. You can smell the rich earthy decay already, and this was just the first week. What's more, whoever brought us this delightfully doleful house of perpetual rain clearly welcomes us here, because they have provided wonderful little step ladders around the house so that we can climb up and peep in the windows, and look and smell and hear in the rain that sacred elegiac music that is always playing just outside the reach of our conscious minds. l love this doomed and sweetly mournful little house, which speaks such volumes on the wounds we live with deep inside. I will gladly read whatever words this artist has for us.

More sweet surprises! The words are wonderful. Almost as lovely as the house itself, which is the work of Georgian artist Vajiko Chachkhiani, and is Georgia's official contribution to this Venice Biennale. The brochure which accompanies the installation is dedicated to an interview with the artist, and in it one learns that he had the idea for such a house and went searching in the Georgian countryside until he found the perfect abandoned property up in the mountains. He brought the entire house to Venice where he re-assembled it along with all it's original furnishings. The interview is as direct and wise and unpretentious as the work - extraordinary for an artist who is only 32 years old. He must be an old soul. I am happy he is young in this life though, because that means that with luck we can follow his work for years to come. In the meantime, I'm out to walk my beloved live dogs in a nourishing spring-time rain.

AUSTRIAN PAVILION by Holly Howe (OK, we're cheating a little here - she's an actual journalist - but a really arty one.)

While you may not initially "see" the link between Erwin Wurm and Brigtite Kowanz, the two artists that curator Christa Steinle paired for this year's Austrian Pavilion, upon visiting the pavilion you literally see it.

While Wurm’s contribution to the pavilion is predominantly in the form of his “One Minute Sculptures” (which are celebrating their 20^th anniversary this year), Kowanz’s “Infinity and Beyond” series comes in the form of neon writing placed on infinity mirrors. The link between the two? Temporality and viewer interaction.

Kowanz has said before in interviews that she’s happy for people to take selfies in her work (the bane of all art with a reflective surface), but even if they don’t, the act of looking at the work places the viewer within it while they look at it.

Wurm is more prescriptive with his sculptures, and the viewer is given instructions on how to pose with each piece, and which posture to adopt. The results are often amusing – on the opening morning, some visitors thought the models were wax dummies as opposed to living people – but in an interview with The Collectors Chronicle, Wurm stated “the assumption that my work is predominantly humorous is wrong.” Instead, he is more interested in the relationships between the objects in the gallery and how the viewers interact with them to create new objects.

Personally, I din't find Kowanz's work particularly new or engaging. Whereas Wurn's I loved, despite it being the continuation of an existing series. And what capped it off was the opportunity to climb to the top of an inverted truck outside the pavilion, and gaze at Venice. Even though Wurm's cheeky guidance was to "stand quiet and look out over the Mediterranean Sea". Which obviously isn't on view...

instagram.com/hollytorious

LUXEMBOURG PAVILION by Markus Blaus

The Luxembourg Pavilion is famous with The Biennial Project and the rest of the throngs of hungry art-lovers that mob Venice during the opening week of the Biennale as being absolutely the most generous with their receptions – predictably providing an opulent opening night spread for a huge crowd that includes with not only the de rigueur endless supply of procecco, but full dinner and desserts as well.

This Biennale I was fortunate enough not only to eat and drink on their dime but to also speak at some length with the artist and with the curator of the exhibit.

The curator explained that the artists under consideration were first pruned down to a list of twenty five, then three, and that then the top three were invited to give an hour and a half presentation of their ideas to the judges. They wanted not only innovative ideas that represented Luxembourg but also a new youthful vision with a global perspective. The artist they chose, Mike Bourscheid, is 35 years old and currently lives in Vancouver Canada.

His installation consists of 5 rooms. Each room displays costumes the that artist wears during his performance pieces. One room feels much like a mash up of a sport teams locker room and a ballet studio. In it you will find many outfits consisting of heavy-looking leather aprons and large metal cage-like shoes.

Each of these “uniforms” has a number on it. These costumes represent personal connections for the artist. One had the number of his old soccer uniform as a kid. One was that of a former roommate. One was that of Wayne Gretzky the famous hockey player (99). Mike explained that this uniform also represented another hockey legend (whose name, symbolically enough, I can’t remember) who wore the number 9 and who spent his live accumulating enough goals to finally break the goal for the most goals in a career, only to have Sir Gretzky beat his record in only a few years.  During his performance piece for this uniform the artist uses a pony tail to cover one of the 9’s to transform from one of the hockey players to the other.

In another room viewers are required to put protective covers on their feet before walking on the carpet although the carpet is not in any way special. The act of putting covers on one's feet involves the viewer in the experience of putting on a costume and contributes to an overall vibe of viewer-friendly and playful performance that makes the Luxenbourg Pavilion a Biennial Project favorite (and not only for the quality of the vittles!).

OK, that should do it for What We Saw, What We Liked - Part One. Part Two up next!  Check out our blog, website and facebook page for more on Venice!

Some of the Biennial Project Gang in Venice photo by Paul Weiner

"No two people see the same Biennale, given the several thousand exhibits. Venice is momentary, fragmentary, a hope of chance sights that will hold fast in memory," says Laura Cumming of The Observer. So, stuck in my memory along with a handful of other exhibits (notably several wonderful uses of water and sound) is the Russian pavilion's ‘Theatrum Orbis,’ which references the first modern atlas. With the ambitious aim of spanning the world, the show features three separate pieces on 3 levels, by Grisha Bruskin, Recycle Group, and Sasha Pirogova. Of the three, I was particularly blown away by 'Scene Change' by Grisha Bruskin. It's a marvel of what you can do with black and white, what worlds it can span, how much more expressive and emotionally challenging it can be than ordinary color. In a darkened, domed space, white statues, some archaic, some surreal and futuristic, ring the walls, alternately harshly illuminated in raking light and plunged into darkness. Projected over and above the statues is a richly black and white animation of marching automatons, beginning with one individual, increasing to a horde, ultimately swarmed by fanciful airborne devices.  Sound builds from a low murmur  to shouts, roars, engine noises, finally to an hypnotic din. Are these multitudes contemporary freedom-fighters? Fascist brigades? Futuristic automatons? It is a deafening, mysterious, and sinister tour de force. In 'Scene Change', per Bruskin, "there is no movement whatsoever, be it from old to new, from primitive to complex, or from worse to better". What I love about this piece, with its great beauty and visceral allure that simultaneously attract and repel, is that it is also a sly reminder that such aesthetic thrills can cut both ways between sublime swoon, innocent enthusiasm ("Go team!"), and Riefenstahl-like enchantment. It's very old, but it's all still in there.

Charlene Liska, for The Biennial Project

So The Biennial Project, the group putting together ArtVenice Biennale IV is very happy to announce that we are extending our entry deadline from Feb 15 until March 9th. Enter ArtVenice Biennale IV

Yay, that gives you, the artists whose work we are dying to see, three more weeks to enter ArtVenice Biennale IV!! Enter ArtVenice Biennale IV

So don’t delay, or delay a little now, but not too long, and submit your work!! We want to see it. So do our globally renowned jurors giving out special recognition individual prizes.

Just in case you did not see how cool our jurors are we have listed them and their credentials below. Most important to us is that fact that each of our special jurors have shown in one of the most recent Venice Biennales!

Argelia Bravo, 56th Venice Biennale, Venezuelan Pavilion, born  in Caracas in 1962, studied at the Central University of Venezuela (1980-1983), at the School of Visual Arts Cristóbal Rojas (Caracas, 1979-1981) and at the Centro de Educacion Gráfica CEGRA (Caracas, 1981-1983).  Noted Venezuelan artist whose work has been influencial in transfiguring the relations between art, society, politics and culture in general. Her body of work celebrates the essence of the woman, mapping power that emerges outside the official structures of society.

Binelde Hyrcan, 56th Venice Biennale, Angolian Pavilion, born in 1982 in Luanda, grew up in Angola. Shocked by the images of war in his youth, he saw the real consequences of political decisions. His work across painting, drawing, sculpture, film, performance and installation often addresses the absurdity represented by political and social customs and attitudes, particular critiquing structure and power and human vanity. He has exhibited widely across the globe.

Camille Zakharia, 55th Venice Biennale, Bahrain Pavilion, was born in Tripoli, Lebanon in 1962 and lives between Bahrain and Canada. As an exile of the decades-long Lebanese Civil War, Zakharia’s itinerary is a tale of immigration, between the United States, Turkey, Greece, and ultimately Canada and Bahrain. The celebrated photographer, graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, is an experienced surveyor of the contemporary human condition as it has become inherently entangled with processes of migration, immigration, globalization and displacement. Within this process is an exploration of home, identity and belonging in the context of a globalized condition. He has received numerous accolades for his work including the first place prize in the International Photography Awards in 2006 and 2007. He has exhibited widely.

George Camille 56 Venice Biennale, Seychelles Pavillion, born on the island of Mahe in 1963. From a young age, he took an interest in working in Charcoal & Pencil. His works developed into Watercolour, Gouache & Acrylic. He studied at Blackheath Collage of Art and Goldsmiths College, both in London. In 1987 he established Sunstroke Studio Seychelles which provided him with a means to continue his design activities and his fine art work. Taking his cues from his native Seychelles landscapes, he has incorporated elements of ‘objet trouvé’ into mixed media work experimenting with metal, resin & relief work. George has had solo & group exhibitions in Seychelles, Mauritius, Martinique, Reunion, UK France, Germany and Beijing, China.

Nigol Bezjian, 56th Venice Biennale, Part of the Armenian Dispora Pavilion, Golden Lion Winner, was born in September 11,1955 in Aleppo, Syria, to Armenian parents. He immigrated first to Lebanon, before immigrating to Boston in 1974. He studied filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and then the UCLA School of Film, Theatre and Television where he graduated with a MFA. After having worked for Future TV in Lebanon, he was involved in producing broadcast television programs throughout the Middle East. For several years he has owned a production company; Think Positive, providing production services in Lebanon, producing documentaries, consulting to TV station and producing TV shows. He is a director and writer.

Nizar Sabour, 54th Venice Biennale, Syrian Pavilion, born in Lattakia, Syria 1958, he graduated from the Department of Painting and Drawing in the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Damascus in 1981. He later pursued a Doctorate of Philosophy in Sciences of Art at the University of Moscow in 1990. He now teaches at the University of Damascus and is a Professor at the International Private University for Science & Technology in  Ghabagheb, Syria. His work tends to have religious undertones, focusing on the artist’s fascination with religious imagery and icons, whether Christian, Islamic or pagan. However he treats these elements in a very non-traditional manner and purposefully counterbalances any religiosity by employing colours and a technique that is more reminiscent of Dada collages than the precision of religious iconography. In 2004, he was awarded the first prize in painting at the International Art Symposium in Dubai.

Togmidshiirev Enkhbold, 56th Venice Biennale, Mongolian Pavilion, born 1978 in Uvurkhangai province he graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Ulaanbaatar in 2005, where he now teaches. In addition he is a member of the Blue Sun Group. Founded in 2002, the Blue Sun Group is an artists group that supports emerging artists and alternative art practices. They maintain a studio complex and a gallery space in Ulaanbaatar city centre. Raised in a nomadic family Enkhbold moved to the Mongolian capital city Ulaanbaatar in 1998 to study. Using his own scaled down, self-built version of a ger, the mobile circular living structure traditionally used by nomadic Mongolian families, Enkhbold uses performance to explore geographic and contextual shifts.

Horst Uhlemann, 54th Venice Biennale, Costa Rica Pavillion, born 1959, lives in Pottsdam, Germany. Since 1997 he is a member of the group “utopia” in italy. He likes his paintings to be understood as single pages of a book, which have their own signification and authorization. They don’t announce what he seeks, but what he has found. Through the immediate vitality of his colors and compositions, the combination of different techniques and materials the tensions become an experience.

Enter ArtVenice Biennale IV

Plain and simple, The Biennial Project, an American based artist collaborative and the coordinators of ArtVenice Biennale IV, are completely and utterly disgusted by the actions of our President and his administration. 

We are and will continue to do whatever we are humanly capable of to resist the new regime that has taken leadership of our country. 

WE ARE HORRIFIED at the travel ban our new president has put into place against  the 7 countries targeted - so far.

This is not what we as Americans ever believed could happen in the USA.

We, The Biennial Project, want to stand in peaceful solidarity with ALL international artists of ALL countries and ALL religions.

We invite any artists from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria. Libya, Somalia and Yemen to enter ArtVenice Biennale IV at no cost. We waive your entry fee. Please share your art with us.

Enter at http://the-biennial-project.com/Contest_Home.aspx

The Biennial Project knows that this doesn’t even come close to an amend for the insult and heartache our new president and his administration have slapped on the citizens of these countries.

We just want to let you know that, artist to artist, human to human, we  appreciate you, celebrate you, and love you.

WE LOVE YOU IRAN

WE LOVE YOU IRAQ

WE LOVE YOU SUDAN

We LOVE YOU SYRIA

WE LOVE YOU LIBYA

WE LOVE YOU SOMALIA

WE LOVE YOU YEMEN

PLEASE ENTER, with your fee waived, ArtVenice Biennale IV.

Watch the film the critics are calling "a passionate cri de cœur wrestled from the depths of artistic pathos and suffering".

“They’re selling postcards of the hanging, they’re painting the passports brown, the beauty parlor is filled with sailors, the circus is in town.” Nobel Laureate and Close Biennnial Project Collaborator Bob Dylan

Hey there Artists, Friends, and Other Loonies - the grand circus otherwise known as ArtVenice Biennale 4is ramping up. We are getting so much fantastic art submitted, and as artists ourselves (we can take the dark out of the nighttime and paint the daytime black – just saying) we take damned seriously our responsibility to promote this work far and wide. So here is our first sampler of some of this great stuff. (For regular ArtVenice Biennale 4Entrant of the Day posts and other timely updates about Art World Goings On – visit and like The Biennial Project’s Facebook Page.) 

First up is Farid Rasulov, who represented Azerbaijan at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. “His large scale paintings, installations and sculptures are fraught with apparent symbolism which the artist adamantly denies.”

Farid Rasulov of New York, NY   http://faridrasulov.com/

Here are several other amazing artists who have submitted work to ArtVenice Biennale 4 whose work we wanted to show you:

Marlene Siff of Westport, CT   http://www.marlenesiff.com/

Dorothy Fitzgerald of Lyndonville, NY   http://dfitz.org/

Yvette Kaiser Smith of Chicago, IL   http://yvettekaisersmith.com/

Laura Krasnow of Pittsburgh, PA   http://laurakrasnow.com/

Jan Brandt of Bloomington, IL   http://www.janbrandtartist.com/

Madeleine Lord, of Dudley, MA  http://www.mlordsculpts.com/

Another exciting  ArtVenice Biennale 4  development is the ever expanding list of Extraordinarily Successful and Interesting International Artists who have agreed to serve as Special Guest Jurors for  ArtVenice Biennale 4. Each of these wonderful artist has achieved the recognition of having exhibited at the Venice Biennale in one of the Prestigious National Pavilions. Each of these guest jurors will pick one artist from among the entrants to ArtVenice Biennale 4to recognize as a Special Prize Winner. This list is preliminary – we have just started reaching out to artists asking them to participate and anticipate having many more artists sign on for this – but look what cool artists have already said yes at this early date!

Nigol Bezjian 56th Venice Biennale, Part of the Armenian Diaspora Pavilion, Golden Lion Winner, Venice, Italy  MORE ON NIGOL BEZJIAN

Argelia Bravo 56th Venice Biennale, Venezuelan Pavilion, Venice, Italy
MORE ON ARGELIA BRAVO  EVEN MORE ON ARGELIA BRAVO

Binelde Hyrcan 56th Venice Biennale, Angolan Pavilion, Venice, Italy
MORE ON BINELDE HYRCAN

George Camille 56th Venice Biennale, Seychelles Pavilion, Venice, Italy
MORE ON GEORGE CAMILLE EVEN MORE ON GEORGE CAMILLE

Camille Zakharia 55th Venice Biennale, Bahrain Pavilion Venice, Italy
MORE ON CAMILLE ZAKHARIA

Togmidshiirev Enkhbold  56th Venice Biennale, Mongolian Pavilion, Venice, Italy  MORE ON TOGMIDSHIIREV ENKHBOLD

Horst Uhlemann 54th Venice Biennale representing Costa Rica
MORE ON HORST UHLEMANN

Nizar Sabour  54th Venice Biennale in the Pavilion of the SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC  MORE ON NIZAR SABOUR

If you enter ArtVenice Biennale 4, each and every one of these artists will see your work as part of the jurying process! Enter now before the rush to increase your chances of being promoted on Facebook as an Entrant of the Say and/or included in future Entrant Samplers sent out to The Biennial Project’s  email list of more than 40,000 peeps!

Enter ArtVenice Biennale 4 Here

They say sing while you slave and we just get bored!

[EDITORS NOTE: The Biennial Project is Legion we are so damned many – so of course we have a Cool Artist Correspondent reporting back from his Artist Residency in the Very HOT HOT HOT location of Havana Cuba that so many people are interested in lately. Here we are proud to present you artist Clint Imboden’s first person account of his just completed trip.]

CHAPTER ONE

I am heading to Cuba on September 30^th for an 18 days artist residency at the Bustamante Studio in Havana. I will be sending regular updates for The Biennial Project to post on their website. First a little about me, Cuba, and my connection to the Biennial Project.

I am a sculptor and installation artist out of Oakland, CA. I use repurposed materials in all of my art. My typical day includes hunting for material at local flea markets and estate sales. I exhibit regularly in the Bay Area, and have exhibited around the US as well as in South America and Europe. You can see my work at www.clintimboden.com. Cuba provides me with the opportunity to find new materials for making art and to exhibit that art in completely new venues.

Ever since president Obama relaxed travel to Cuba, I have wanted to go and see Cuba before it changes. Through a conversation with a long-time friend and artist, I found out that her daughter (a really nice painter www.erinparish.com) is married to a Cuban and has a connection to a contemporary gallery in Havana. Many phone calls, text messages and emails later, I was able to arrange this residency. It all happened within two months. There is hope that this residency will become an opportunity open to other artists.

My connection with The Biennial Project goes back to 2012 when I found a call for entry about getting work seen during the Art Venice Biennale in 2013. I figured this was worth the entry fee! and entered and ended up winning the grand prize.

[From The Biennial Project’s review of Clint’s work: “As good red-blooded Americans, we were first seduced by his gorgeous series of resin-based pieces titled Colors of War. Luscious, candy-colored, lethal. Perfection. Can we get fries with with that?” Read more of our review here: Grand Prize Winner of The 2013 ArtVenice Biennale Announced]

So started my relationship with Anna and the rest of the crew there. For a couple years I’d read about their antics, travels and other adventures when an email would pop up in my inbox from them. I kept them on my radar and one day I got an email asking if anyone wanted to go with them to the Biennale in Venice next spring. Figuring that these insane artists would be fun to see art with, I jumped at the opportunity. But, I had to back out because of a conflict with my son’s wedding. What is a father to do, art or family? This time family won out. But this recent contact with Anna turned into a phone call and I talked to her about my upcoming trip to Cuba, and she asked me to scope out the art scene. Told her about the next Biennale in Havana in 2018 and of course she was interested in seeing it they could have the Biennial Project on the road south. So I have a few of missions while in Havana:

• Scope out galleries for my work
• Make connections with people connected to the Biennial in hopes of being asked to participate, and
• See if there’s a place for the Biennial Project in Cuba.

CHAPTER TWO

Sunday night Sept 25 – will leave for Cuba Thursday afternoon. Starting to put together what I will bring to make art. Five kinds of glue: wood glue, white epoxy, clear epoxy, super glue, super glue jell. 30 lbs nylon coated stainless steel line. A variety of ceiling hardware. Now I need to think about tools. But nothing that could by itself be used to make art. I am gong to leave it to the streets and people of Havana to find my direction and scope of materials. I have already been told about a house full of wood. I have asked for more details. I have also been told about the infrequent trash pick up. I am only taking glue, hanging hardware and tools. You will see first here what I find and what I do with it. I have a couple of different directions in mind. Four days and counting. It is hard to believe that it is almost here. Means I finished my big installation at the new Hyatt Place being built in Emeryville, CA. Spent over a year working on this piece and 50 hours+ to install it. But that is a while different story, except the big opening party will be shortly after I get back from Cuba.

CHAPTER THREE

My residency in Cuba had started off on an ominous note. The suitcase that was carrying all the tools and supplies I had carefully organized was taken by another passenger and his suitcase left for me. By the time this individual realized he had taken the wrong suitcase I was on my flight to Havana. Thinking at the time not everything was lost, the staff at baggage claim assured me that my bag when returned would be on the next flight to Havana. They were wrong, because of the lingering affects of the 50 year old pissing match between the US and Cuba my bag would not be joining me. My hope ended with the prayer that my bag would be waiting for me in Miami when I next returned to the US; even that not being a sure thing in my mind. 

At first being distracted by not only being in a country where I did not speak the language and without the comfort of my own tools, I wondered the streets of Havana like any of the other aimless tourist I saw. I finally found a plaza where venders sold the remnants of Cuba's past. I immediately felt home and started to scavenge, barter and collect similar materials as I have collected for years at home. Only to realize when I got them back to the studio, I was still in the same predicament as I was when I got off the plane. Without my tools and especially without the five kinds of glue I brought, I had a great little pile of Cuban history and no way to turn it into "my art." Back to being a tourist again, I continued to eat drink and walk, without really accomplishing anything.

At the end of the first week I was really no closer than I was when I stepped off the plane to accomplishing any of the grand goals I had set for myself from the comfort of my home. During our many walks through our new neighborhood and the streets of Havana, one thing screamed at me from every where: This is a poor country. The average person here uses and reuse and then uses again everything until it is beyond use. I saw men straightening nails so they could be reused, metal frame chairs with plastic bags woven to replace lost seats, and of course the many pre-revolutionary American cars that in the states would have long ago been over grown in some abandoned junkyard. The volume of material to choose from which I was accustomed to was nowhere to be found. 

Cuba had been inching its way into my brain without me realizing it. I started to realize my American arrogance had gotten the best of me; I had planned on making my American art out of Cuban materials. To make work that was within my comfort zone. I realized the materials really did not matter; it was my process that was at the center of whatever work I have ever done.  My work has really always been about process--about finding that hidden element in a piece of material that when highlighted changed how people saw it, bringing a fresh and sometimes thought-changing experience to the viewer. I had just finished a year-long commission where I was tasked to come up with a concept for a hanging sculpture that could only be fabricated out of used bicycle which I managed to accomplish rather beautifully if I so myself. With this new found mindset and a new set of constraints, I began the real beginning of my residency in Cuba.

The next morning I began what will be my morning ritual for the remainder of my time here; going to the rocky edge of the sea which is just across the street from my temporary home for materials. Finding a new use for material beyond the use of even the average Cuban. After a couple hours I brought home the first of what I hope will be many plastic bags full of bits of broken pottery, shards of sea glass, tangled pieces of different color wire and anything else that caught my eye. I also started to soak pieces of thin wood I found while going through an abandoned house on my block in a small back wash of sea water to see if they would be soft enough to bend.

I have no idea what if anything will come out of this. Maybe just a larger pile of trash that I will leave behind. If anything, Cuba has forced me to rethink my craft, that I will take with me.

CHAPTER FOUR

Saturday 10-1-16. On our own now we went to old Havana to check out an art gallery I found online. Factoria Habana. The term gallery seems to mean museum here. It is described as: “Factoría Habana is an experimental center for present-day artistic creation. The institution, which is ascribed to the City Historian’s Office, seeks to become a bridge between Latin American and European art”. The current exhibition is titled "In the silence of Duchamp". Some images from the exhibition:

CHAPTER FIVE

Found a flea market in Havana at plaza de Armas the other day and went back today for serious foraging for material. Came home with 5 Christs without crosses, 9 soviet era pins and 2 arm banners. Also found a couple of old shoe soles in an abandoned building. I need at least a couple more Christs. The vendor said she would have more tomorrow.

CHAPTER SIX

While out scavenging through abandon houses around where we are staying for material to use we stopped into the local grocery story, very small, to see what we could find.
We have beer from Holland, crackers from Vietnam, water both still and carbonated from Cuba, Pepsi from Ecuador, orange sofa from Honduras, and strawberry yogurt from Spain all for $9.50 CUC almost equivalent to US $$, the yogurt was the most expensive for $2.20, followed by the crackers for $2.15.

CHAPTER SEVEN

One of my pieces in Cuba. Now I need to figure out how to attach Christ to the discarded shoe soles. Going to the Havana Art University tomorrow to check to see if I can work there. I am hopeful I will get 3-4 other pieces made. Have the material but need tools to put it all together.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Another piece that I completed yesterday. Beautiful weathered orange wood, found as is at an abandoned house, faucet from the ocean and the small Lenin pin from the flea market. Usually drilling the hole would have taken me less than a minute, but not here. Did have a cordless drill but the largest bit was a very worn 1/4 inch bit, so I had to carve the rest of the hole with my X-Acto knife, about an hour of work.

CHAPTER NINE

My final of 4 pieces is almost complete. I just need to seal the top so the sea water can not leak out. The wood came from an abandoned house, it appears to have been part of a crib. The wire is from the ocean, as are all the coins in the bottle and of course the sea water. The old small medical bottle was the only piece purchased. The coins were all found this morning along about 1/4 mile of shore and about an hour and 1/2 of searching. There is no beach, it is all rocky, looks like old volcanic rock. Without shoes, your feet would be shredded. The working tittle is "success".

CHAPTER TEN

A recap of my 18 days in Habana, Cuba. Pretty damn cool. Great people, cheap food and drink. Did get tired of little fruit, no green vegetables, and especially no salads. $1.50 beer and $2.00 Mojitos and Daiquiris. The art I saw was interesting, but nothing earth shattering. Found a very cool venue; Factoria Habana, cool old building, 3 floors contemporary work, would love to exhibit there, maybe next year. [EDITORS NOTE: This would also be a fantastic venue for the Inaugural Biennial Project ArtCuba Bienal, NO LES PARECE?]

Making art started out as a very big challenge which ultimately lead me to do four pieces of new work that I am very excited about. Exposed to new artists and gallery people, which is always good; especially when they offer to show your work and represent you in Habana.

Brought home some really nice run (4 bottles) different grades. Really good cigars at dirt cheap prices. [EDITORS NOTE: Havana Club?!?!?!?!?!?!?! OMFG, you’re killing us here. While it is true that some members of The Biennial Project do not drink, some of us most unquestionably do drink and are just extraordinarily fond of Havana Club. Just saying.]

Very cool flea market, limited items, a little pricey at times, but I was already being know by a couple of the venders I bought more than once from, just like home. Very interesting trash, found most of my material in abandoned buildings or the ocean.

Looking forward to going back. Hopefully spend some time outside of Habana. I have been told the south shore is diving heaven.  I would love to go back to work again next year, maybe for a little longer. I am definitely going back in 2018 for the next Bienal. Hopefully with my work being exhibited somewhere.

Cuba ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of five.

What to know more, track me down. The more positive talk about the arts there the better. Contemporary art is only going to go in one direction there ⬆️⬆️⬆️.

Clint Imboden, October 2016 clintimboden.com

[LAST EDITORS NOTE WE PROMISE: OK dudes, we must get a group together and go down to the 2018 Bienal de La Habana! COME ON – LIFE IS SHORT!

(If truth be told, this would reputedly not be the first trip to Cuba for some members of TBP. Some members of TBP reputedly visited Cuba several times, and mixed generous amounts of Havana Club with their Cuban coffee, long before this was a fashionable or legal thing to do. Just goes to show that TBP is always ahead of the curve on all important matters. And incapable of following our lawyers’ advice on almost any question. But back to the subject, LET’S GO TO CUBA IN 2018!!!

XXOO, The Biennial Project]

"

Hi artist friends! So, The Biennial Project has launched ASK THE BIENNIAL PROJECT- the first advice column dedicated entirely to the concerns of visual artists. Shockingly, we have received actual requests for advice from lots and lots artists out there. Eric and Anna will dispense their wisdom via regular podcasts (once we figure out what a podcast is), and we plan to crowd source some of the questions at receptions as well. We will also answer the best questions in print, and because Anna and Eric are in fact very lazy (and frankly the last people that anyone serious should turn to for advice), we have reached out to some of our FABULOUS BIENNIAL PROJECT ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS* (we are legion we are so many) for their thoughts. And thoughts they have, being the FBPAC that they are. Here are their considered answers to the first batch of questions:

1) Lanjar asks: art for What?

Mitchel: Exactly. 

Marjorie: Art for Arts' Sake. Money for God's Sake.

Editors: Because you have to. That’s it.

2) Joan asks: why do I want to be just like you?

Mitchel: Because you want to be someone other than yourself, and you can be.

3) Allie asks: What is the most important to teach young art students?

Mitchel: You can learn technique, and you should, but what you're trying to say must come from within.

4) Karen asks: I'm over 60, sold my paintings in galleries all my life. For 20 years I painted theatre sets part time(12-24 weeks a year) I can't physically do that any more, and all my gallery spaces have closed. How do I find my market?

Mitchel: There's no magic bullet - get out there and talk to the market. Promote yourself on social media too.

Kelly: Art sales have changed in the age of internet and social media.  Many galleries now have an online presence and the growth of national art festivals and fairs have opened the market up to a wider audience.  Try group shows which have a strong history of sales. You can find national shows online at www.callforentry.org.  Good questions to ask are: “What percentage of the show is sold?” or “Do you have a dedicated sales team at the show?”  “Do you have a  sales desk at the show?” “Do you have the ability to take major credit cards?” “What is the commission split?” “What is the process for payment?” “What is the ship in/return process?”  Once you find shows that consistently sell your work, you can begin creating work specifically for these Gallery-style art shows held around the country. 

5) Fernando asks: www.fernandopasini.arq.br

Editors: Nice try Fernando, but that is not precisely a question, although we admire your spunk. We’re all about spunk really.

6) (A different) Karen asks: My question is how to get a teaching job it all require previous experience teaching? My CV got a little interrupted because I had two kids and now that I want to start again, I feel I don't know where to start.

Mitchel: You'll need to make sure you're meeting local licensing requirements, but then try substitute teaching it will introduce to classroom management and build resume for full-time work.

7) Moya asks: I have had a few commercial galleries carry my work and have shown at numerous non profits, including regional museums nationally over the last 2 decades. I can never seem to break through to making a living from art and now teach for my living. What's the problem?

Mitchel: Unfortunately the problem may be unrealistic expectations. Nearly every artist I know either works a flurry of smaller jobs, has a day job (usually teaching), or does not need the income. If you want to become one of those "name" artists, you'll have to do a *lot* of marketing, and learn how to suck up to the oligarchic class.

Kelly: Many galleries today require a partnership from the artist.  It can be a challenge to maintain a local gallery as rents continue to escalate.  The gallery must pay its staff and real estate expenses and the artist typically maintains the wall space. However, in today’s world, the 60% split to the gallery may not cover expenses, therefore many galleries are asking artists to pay for marketing or large format printing for example. Gaining a local collector base can come from networking and creating fun shows through restaurants and unusual venues (Yoga Studios) where both you and the business benefit.  This requires a large inventory work and may require the work to be specialized to the business in which it is shown.  This can be an entertaining way to make new friends which turn into collectors.  Also, you may want to partner with sharply contrasting artists or complimentary artists (think also outside the box to include sculpture/performance artists/musical artists/local artists co-ops in your city etc..)

8) Michael asks: Okay, I am a self-obsessed neurotic goofball who likes a good laugh, but I am also very serious. Is this artist helpline a joke, something serious or something in between?

Charlene: Yes.

Mitchel: Very serious. We're looking over your should right now.

9) Brandon asks: Hello, I find is SO difficult to insure that I get real credit, my name and job title,listed correctly! I work as a hard working Master Printmaker and Artist ... How can I get this to happen without it being some Issue!!!! I can't seem to get away from the fact that being a woman is making this Even more challenging!!! Thanks for this forum and I look forward to your thoughts! Warmly, Brandon

Mitchel: Urgggh. It may be you're being disrespected because of gender, but I'm not finding artists get a whole lot of respect from the non-artists world. Maybe have a handout you provide with all your correct info, along with a short description of how and why it's important to give proper credit.

10) Victor asks: Why do I cry in the face of pain of pain or beauty? It makes it hard to carry on a conversation. Someone mentioned Frieda Kahlo the other day. Gulp. Someone showed me his scars from being shot in war. Gulp. I guess I am learning to suck it up and wipe my eyes and stay. How do you do it? Do you say, excuse me, I am emotional. Time again for dopamine reuptake inhibitors?

Mitchel: Probably, but is it art?

Editors: Victor, you are clearly our kind of fellow. We’ve been known to take to our beds in sorrow over the plight of a dead sparrow. The drug question is a tough one though – on the one hand we are appalled by the mercenary pharmaceutical industry’s response to the widespread sadness and despair that is a logical response to the conditions of late stage capitalism – change the person, not the world. On the other hand, of course we are on meds. Isn’t everyone?

11) KJ asks: Is it bad of me to not want to spend the money on going out for dinner? Because the whole time I'm thinking of what kind of Art supplies I could be buying with that money. I mean come on! Your joy on that dinner only last one night, the artwork you could make with that money could last forever.

Mitchel: Yep, you're an artist. You're not making art because you want to, but because you have to. Carry on.

Editors: What he said.

12) Meg asks: I'm 64 - so looking at retirement in the near future. Any tips people have found using senior status? Also, is this question thing new? Or do you have a list of FAQ somewhere?

Mitchel: Soon come for me, but not yet.

Editors: This question thing is indeed new, but we will soon have a Ask The Biennial Project FAQ page up on our website.

13) Mike asks: How can I be less famous and less successful as an artist? I am a contrarian and find it offensive that no one is vying to "own" the opposite pole of success...

Mitchel: Always attend opening naked. No. Wait. That would probably accomplish the other thing.

14) Marjorie asks: How is it that you are so goshdarned awesome????
You make it easier to cope with the freaking asspain of having to do something other than making art just by existing.  And I mean that.  This is STELLAR!!!!!

Mitchel: Hah! Is that a question? Or are you sucking up? Either way: we like.

Editors: Your are obviously an exceptionally good judge of contemporary performative artistic practice.

15) Alec asks: OK, dudes, I know you are famous now and everything, but why won't Eric return my texts?

Mitchel: Check your spam folder.

Kelly: Stand in Line!  Eric is not only famous but HOT.

Editors: He is busy watching Teen Mom but will get back to you soon Alec. Message him on Grinder for the most timely response.

16) Jonathon asks: You guys have suggested "sucking up" to curators to get ahead. How literally am I to take this?

Mitchel: You already know the answer to that.

*FABULOUS BIENNIAL PROJECT ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS

Mitchel Ahern is a marketing consultant, letterpress operator, performance artist and general annoyance. His websiteis out of date, his YouTube channel is cryptic and his Instagram feed seems narcissistic.

Kelly Stevens - Director of Nude Nite, the largest art show dedicated to exhibiting figurative works in the world.  www.nudenite.com Orlando Downtown Arts District Board, Board of Trustees – Mennello Museum of American Art, Associates Board – Orlando Museum of Art.

Charlene Liska is a video artist, painter and a photographer. She is founding member of both The Biennial Project and Atlantic Works Gallery .

Marjorie Kaye - a sculptor, painter, and runs the artist-managed                             Galatea Fine Art in the SOWA Arts and Design District Boston.  www.marjoriekayeart.com    www.galateafineart.com

         XXOO, The Editors

LINK TO OUR FIRST ASK THE BIENNIAL PROJECT "PODCAST":

Ask The Biennial Project answers question from artist Karen Dana

AND KEEP THOSE QUESTIONS COMING:

ASK THE BIENNIAL PROJECT HERE

Life can be so hard, especially for us artistic types. No one outside of our fellow artists really "gets" us.

How many times have you had the experience of attempting in vain to explain to one court-ordered therapist or another just why we insist on living this way? Always broke, just barely hanging on to jobs we could do in our sleep if we were actually paying even a little bit of attention, continually disappointing the parents who saw such promise in us before our proclivities became known, limiting the pool of potential partners to fellow nut-jobs who could tolerate such a life.

How to explain ourselves to people who were busy listening to the teacher while we lost ourselves in the patterns the rain was making on the window?

Who are we to go to when we need answers to important life questions in an atmosphere free of the shaming so common in the straight word?

Until now the bartenders and dealers of the world were really our only good options in this area, but they weren't always available when we most needed them.

And anyway, only other artists completely understand how we are wired. That's why there is such a profound need for an artist-run advice column - organized by artists for artists.

And who better to answer your questions on important life issues than the internationally renowned artists of The Biennial Project, who have consistently demonstrated such a respectful and sensitive approach to complex cultural questions?

What a fantastic example of this bright new sharing economy - you need opinions, we have more than we need, so we share with you!

Welcome to Ask The Biennial Project, a unique opportunity for today's working artists to solicit advice on matter of the head, heart, and other organs.

So send us those questions now!

ASK THE BIENNIAL PROJECT NOW

“I am heading to Cuba on September 30^th for an 18 days artist residency at the Bustamante Studio in Havana. I will be sending regular updates for The Biennial Project to post on their website.

First a little about me, Cuba, and my connection to the Biennial Project.

I am a sculptor and installation artist out of Oakland, CA. I use repurposed materials in all of my art. My typical day includes hunting for material at local flea markets and estate sales. I exhibit regularly in the Bay Area, and have exhibited around the US as well as in South America and Europe. You can see my work at: www.clintimboden.com

Cuba provides me with the opportunity to find new materials for making art and to exhibit that art in completely new venues.

Ever since president Obama relaxed travel to Cuba, I have wanted to go and see Cuba before it changes. Through a conversation with a long-time friend and artist, I found out that her daughter (a really nice painter www.erinparish.com ) is married to a Cuban and has a connection to a contemporary gallery in Havana. Many phone calls, text messages and emails later, I was able to arrange this residency. It all happened within two months. There is hope that this residency will become an opportunity open to other artists.

My connection with The Biennial Project goes back to 2012 when I found a call for entry about getting work seen during the Art Venice Biennale in 2013. I figured this was worth the entry fee and entered and ended up winning the grand prize.

[Text from The Biennial Project’s review of Clint’s work: “As good red-blooded Americans, we were first seduced by his gorgeous series of resin-based pieces titled Colors of War. Luscious, candy-colored, lethal. Perfection. Can we get fries with with that?” Read more of our review here:

Grand Prize Winner of The 2013 ArtVenice Biennale]

So started my relationship with Anna and the rest of the crew there. For a couple years I’d read about their antics, travels and other adventures when an email would pop up in my inbox from them. I kept them on my radar and one day I got an email asking if anyone wanted to go with them to the Biennale in Venice next spring. Figuring that these insane artists would be fun to see art with, I jumped at the opportunity. But, I had to back out because of a conflict with my son’s wedding. What is a father to do, art or family? This time family won out. But this recent contact with Anna turned into a phone call and I talked to her about my upcoming trip to Cuba, and she asked me to scope out the art scene. Told her about the next Biennale in Havana in 2018 and of course she was interested in seeing it they could have the Biennial Project on the road south. So I have a few of missions while in Havana:

• Scope out galleries for my work
• Make connections with people connected to the Biennial in hopes of being asked to participate, and
• See if there’s a place for the Biennial Project in Cuba.

Check in later for updates on my trip!”