Performance art was one of the themes that emerged from this year's Biennale, a bold or noisy exhibition certainly enhances your chances of getting noticed in the sea of art that seems to emerge from every doorway and palazzo in Venice. Queues outside your exhibition also garner much interest and conversation. Some of the biggest queues were for Britain, where the line seemed to snake right back to the gates of the Giardini, and for the USA, where the wait was made more interesting by the clatter of an overturned British Centurion battle tank. The American pavilion showed work by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, titled Gloria. The work composed four parts and somehow I convinced the Husband to queue alongside me. I don't mind queueing in Venice (sometimes), there is always so much to see and take in, if you don't mind inhaling the cigarettes that much of Europe seems to persist with.
Outside the pavillion an athlete wearing a USA track and field uniform clambered aboard the tank and ran on a treadmill, causing an almighty racket and grabbing the attention of those far and wide. Inside the building we were ushered into a room where a gymnast performed amazing feats atop an airline seat carved out of wood. In the last room you could make a real ATM withdrawal which caused an organ to play.
A feast for the senses but the Husband definitely needed a large Pinot Grigio after all that.
