Party time: 18th biennale of Sydney
2012; Issue: 252 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1033-4025
Autores Tópico(s)Scottish History and National Identity
ResumoIt was the emperor Augustus Octavian that was the first known leader to harness art to his political agenda. With the Medicis, a banking family, art was used to turn filthy lucre into something spiritual; and Napoleon could use art to manipulate his people to thinking that battles with dubious outcomes were in fact victories. The history of the 20th century has also shown us how art has been manipulated for the grisliest ends. More than a few historical examples indicate that when art expresses halcyon lightness it is usually masking a set of conditions that are far from carefree - the proverbial veil of Maya. Yet is the power of human resistance and of art in general, not to take appearances at face value and to be dissatisfied with the present. In this regard, art since modernism is fundamentally antinomian, literally 'against the law'. It is this inclination to be oppositional, perverse and contrarian that gives much of the best art its inner intensity. But you won't find much of this in the 18th Biennale of Sydney. Subtitled 'all our relations', its main objective, it seems, is to up the count on the half-million visitors from last year. Shamelessly, its logo is a flurry of colourful party ribbons. We are evidently promised a good time. While perhaps the most visually delicious of the Biennales of at least a decade, if mental challenges are what you are looking for, apart from a handful of works, the exhibition leaves a bitter aftertaste.
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