Yesterday things got exciting at the Bienal, but not in the way the curators had intended. Whilst my new friend Magnhild and I were waiting for the free Fischerspooner gig in the public square inside the Bienal Pavillion, a commotion rumbled through the building and doors were locked not letting people in or out. We couldn´t really understand what was going on, and it was a little frightening, particularly when a big group of teenagers began to run towards the glass, kicking it in a frantic attempt to get away. Very quickly one of them found a metal post, smashed the pane and 20 or so boys and girls ran off into the night whilst the crowd shouted at them.
A Brazilian man noticed Magnhild and I hiding behind a column with eyes wide and arms linked, and explained what had happened. The group had got into the ´void´and had tagged all over its clean white walls.
The open floor of the bienal has been a controversial proposal in this years Bienal. It is no secret that the Fundacio de Bienal have been very short of money this year and many think the void was conceived more out of necessity than through any conceptual means. The curators Ivo Mesquita and Ana Paula Cohen propsed that the purpose of the `void´ is to reveal the structure of Oscar Niemeyer´s building "and offer visitors a physical experience of the building’s architecture." Personally, I am grateful for the opportunity to see the floor of the extraordinary building empty- it is so light and open that to come from a busy gallery space from the floor above or below and to inhale this vast open plan one can really feel the quiet sensation of space.
The Brazilian man reassured us that it was nothing to be scared of. "These kids are marginal. It is their´s too, it is free" I very much doubt if the graffiti kids knew the conceptual consequences of their action, but I am sure they realised what a stir it would cause in what has otherwise been quite a sterile first couple of days of the show. I also doubt that the curators would have foreseen that their claim that "it is in this supposedly void territory that intuition and reason will find fertile soil to highlight the powers of imagination and invention" would be reappropriated by vandals. Though it is debatable whether the kids were armed with invention or just with the mimicked language of their gang, and questionable whether they are (to use Helio Oiticica´s indelible words) heros because they are marginal, they nevertheless got us all thinking which is more than I can say for a lot of the art I have seen in the Bienal so far...
The opening night of the Bienal was ok, but it was busy and I didn´t get to see much of the work so I don´t feel equipped to write too much about it as yet. I felt a little alien at the preview as I didn´t really know anyone and everyone else seemed to know everyone so I didn´t stay too long.
I was so grateful to meet Magnhild in my Pousada yesterday morning. She has come for the Bienal too, she also doesn´t know anyone here and she is a 23 year old art student from Norway who works in installation concerned with architecture and town planning!!!
Yesterday we got on another bus arranged for delegates and VIPs and attended Paralela, an exhibition with work from 61 Brazilian artists that runs alongside the Bienal every year. It was another champagne and canape affair so it was very nice to have someone to share it with!! Magnhild and I were chatting about the fact that in our own countries we would probably feel out of place at events with so many important looking people, but how being completely outside of it all really helps (so does 6 glasses of champagne...)
(Kids universally love playing in sand....look familiar?)
The show was really impressive. It reminded me why I love Brazilian art and it really put the weakness of the Bienal into perspective (more on this later, I promise).
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