...then the art

This year's Biennale theme is Fare Mundi - Making Worlds. Broad strokes. Artistic freedom to the extreme.

Two of the three days of press previews are over. And I'm doing everything in my power to avoid overload. I spent four hours at the Arsenale yesterday; more than that today at Giardini. Is the show better than '07? I don't think so - at least not what I've seen so far. Is it fair to compare one year to another? Perhaps not. Could anything really compare to the thrill of one's first Biennale? Perhaps not. And perhaps the difference between the world in '07 and the world in '09 influenced the artists' visions more than the sameness of the pre-economic meltdown world. So, there are many factors at play. And I'm not an expert. I only know what I like and what moves me.

I have learned that there is a very specific food chain. Media from outside Italy, NYC, L.A., London, Paris, Tokyo, like that, are WAY down at the bottom. There is much more concern/talk about party invitations than about filing stories. Not that there's anything wrong with that. There are, literally, hundreds of people who descend on Venice for three or four or five days of Biennale previews and parties who believe they are very, very, very important. It's interesting to watch and to listen in...

I will write about what I've seen and post some photos soon. I need to process all the sensory information I've absorbed over the last couple of days. If you simply must know what's going on, please visit www.labiennale.org for the official word...

ciao, mi amici