My recent complaint that there is nothing controversial in this year’s Biennial has elicited some response.
Tomas Harold who is involved in the China Pavilion exhibition at 55 New Bird Street sent me this item..
There was one truly controversial incident!
Part of the China Pavilion exhibition involved an installation of four dead bodies floating on the surface of Salthouse dock. These were life like figures dressed to depict class divisions in society. After months of negotiations with the emergency services and British Waterways I was told at the last minute that they weren’t going to allow it.
So we did it anyway! The bodies lasted for 3 hours on Thursday afternoon before the authorities noticed and made us remove them. They were then driven around the city during the weekend on the back of a flat backed van. You can see them now in the main venue. This is 55 New Bird Street – just off Jamaica Street.
I actually saw those bodies on the back of the truck near the Pier Head on Saturday, they drove past too fast to get a clear look or photo but they certainly looked life-like and rather scary.
Also, the Daily Post obviously agree with me that the Teresa Margolles piece in the Tate is a good candidate for stirring things up a bit. As ever, they managed to find a religious spokesperson to declare that the work is ‘Appalling’
The festival’s contentious offering for 2006 is a piece by a Mexican artist that drips water used to wash dead bodies after post mortem examinations on to a hotplate.
As the droplets sizzle when they hit the heated metal, which represents the pathologist’s examination table, they release a pungent smell for visitors to inhale.
And Stephen Kenny has posted some contentious opinions on the organisation of The Welcoming at the Albert Dock on Saturday.
Responding to your call for controversy (and moaners?), I have to say that ‘The Welcoming’ was the worst of the Biennial events I attended over the weekend. While no blame should be attached to the performers themselves, the organisation of the event was appalling and uncoordinated.
Thank you, thats more like it.