ReSite Venice. To see or not to see.

Venice is all about seeing, being seen and showing. We all want to go there, be there. Everyone is on the back of each other, and so are we. I came with an oversized travel mask and a Norwegian souvenir troll. As a masked parasite and a twisted image of cliches I went into the nightmares of it.

Organized by Norwegian Artistic Research Program and Venice Research Pavilion.
Curated by Ellen Røed og Serge von Arx.
With Lisa Torell, Edvine Larssen, Brynjar Bandlien, Cecilie Semec og Bjørnar Habbestad.
Venice 17 – 27/6/2017.

ReSite Venice (text by Serge von Arx/ Ellen Røed).
– The artists covering and interweaving an ample scope of art fields are inquiring the city of Venice in its context of the Venice Biennial, reflecting on cultural power structures and artistic expression within. The project focuses on the core activity of artistic research being the process, an eventually resulting art work is considered more a contingency than a goal at this point. This underlines a critical awareness of the commodification of art, not by generally rejecting it but rather by using it as agency within contemporary art reflection. The six artists within the Norwegian Artistic Research Program investigate and activate public space with various artistic means stretching from music over film into performance.

In dialogue with this I wrote:

WORK WORK WORK

Preparation work. Mask and sleep mask work. Worries on how it will work work. What on earth to bring and pack work. Travel work. Buying a Norwegian souvenir troll work.

Meet strangers work. Sweat work. Liking and understanding each other work. Checking in work. My room and my room mate Lisa work. Slow work. Drink work. Dinner work. Sleep work. Biennale Giardini work. Lunch work. More biennale work. Curators and artist dinner work. Visit Elisabetta in her garden by the channel work. Getting lost on the way home work. Sleep work. Meet Lisa and Edvine at breakfast work. Visit Research Pavillion work. Lunch work. Swim work. Ghost tour with guide Christina and recording work.

Jumping head into the tourist industry at San Marco work. Recording people and orchestra work.

Sleep work. Think and read work. Why and how work. Buying tours work. Biennale work. Hear Bjørnar play at the French Pavillion work. Dinner with Cecilie, Lisa and Edvine work. Home balcony work. Sleep work. Trying to get the overall picture of tours work. And where is the Vampire tour work? Tour with guide Mathilde at La Fenice Opera house work. Recording and interviewing work. Research into the 1996 fire at La Fenice work. Mafia work? Money work? Hunting book stores work. Sweat work.

Buying a mask magnet souvenir work. Sweat work. Home work. Meet at the Research Pavillion work. Big tasty dinner with everyone work. Sleep work. Gondola ride with oversized sleep mask and a selfie stick work. Reassuring tourists that the performative touch is ok work.

Research at the Venice Pavillion called Luxury work. Luxury work! My God work! Interviewing work. Filming work. Recording work.

Being available at the Research Pavillion work. Finding that troll souvenir and mask souvenir fit perfectly work. Documenting it work.

Dinner work. Sleep work. Think work. Worry work. Breakfast with Brynjar at balcony work. Publishing troll with mask at Facebook work. Sweat work. Being available at the Research Pavillion work. Rest work. Coming too late for Ghost tour at Viareggio together with Edvine work. Dinner work. Getting an idea for a presentation of the research work. Work on it work. Sleep work. Breakfast work. Interviewing and recording mask maker Elena work. Trying to convince her to work on the oversized sleep mask work. It doesn’t work work.

Finding another mask shop work. Asking for feathers work. Explaining my project and charm work. Befriending mask maker Gualtiero work. It works work!

Biennale work. Eating Ellen’s autumn soup with Serge, Ellen, Geir and Bjørnar at head quarter work. Trying to sneak into the Ghost tour from yesterday work. It doesn’t work work. Feeling lonely and lost work. Planning the presentation work. Sleep work. Morning talk with Lisa and Edvine work. Fetching my oversized Venice sleep mask at the atelier of Gualtiero. Great work! Documenting work.

Preparing research presentation work. 10 hours of presentation work with everyone work. Me being the blind guide ‘follow me’ work.

All works worked well work. Sleep work. Long meeting with talk and reflection work. Plan for more sharing work. Economy work. Vacation work. Lido work. Renting a bicycle work. Biking with an Aperol spritz and a Prosecco within work. Whistling work. Swim work. Meeting at the beach work. Dinner work. Drinks work. Sleep work. Packing work. Leaving the apartment with my passport locked inside work. Stress and call work. Wait work. Maybe missing the plane work. Catching a boat taxi work. Ok work. Travel work. Goodbye work.

Thanks to dear colleagues and no longer strangers Lisa Torell, Edvine Larssen, Cecilie Semec, Brynjar Bandlien, Bjørnar Habbestad, Elisabetta di Mambro, Serge von Arx, Ellen Røed and Geir Strøm. Thank you Research Pavillion by Seppo Salminen and Bjørn in SAS for 46 black travel masks.