The Biennale

I went to see the Biennale of Sydney yesterday with a group of my friends. We caught the old ferry out to Cockatoo Island, where a large section of the exhibition can be found in the old industrial areas and heritage houses. The setting was fantastic and the old buildings really set up an amazing atmosphere. It was almost as if you were discovering the artworks by chance.

There was a lot of video art, which I particularly enjoyed since I would like to explore that area with my new album.  Among my favourites was a large scale, panoramic, 9 screen installation called The Feast of Trimalchio by AES+F. It was made from a staggering 75 000 photographs, which morphed from one to the next to form a set of animations. The characters and settings had a very Mount Olympus quality and I loved the soundtrack - Beethoven, Mozart and Karmanov. Pavel Karmanov is a contemporary Russian composer whose work I would now very much like to investigate further.

Another work that left an impression on me was The First Seal - It Would Have Been Better If You Had Never Been Born by Tsang Kin-Wah. Projected on the roof of a small room, with deep electronic sounds comming from speakers in the corners of the floor, were strings of words that flowed across the "screen". They gradually built up until they formed white bands on the roof, which expanded to engulf the whole ceiling, then faded. I found this to be a very effective work, that drew me into it from the begining. Projection on surfaces other than a traditional screen will definitely be something to consider.

Some of the screens in other video installations looked like canvases suspended in the middle of rooms, which was another idea I was drawn to.

It was a full on day, but a very exciting and inspiring (and wet) one. It has made me start thinking very hard about the setting, lighting and type of projection i want to use for my performances.

Yours projectively,

Jane