Biennale In Rear View

Left- Right Wim Wenders as Part of NOW,

Couldscapes,The Chinese Pavilion,

Janet Cardiff, The Chinese Pavilion

images: copyright sarah akigbogun

As the year draws to a close, we thought we would take a retrospective look at a couple of noteworthy events: Venice was for many the high point of the summer's cultural offerings; whilst there we were of course seeking out engaging architectural forays into the world of film and cinematic experiences.

The Arsenale itself is an incredibly filmic setting, which some of the installations really exploited; Transsolar and Tetsuo Kondo Architect's playful Cloudscape , Janet Cardiff's, haunting Forty Part Motet come to mind as pieces that were successful by simply adding another layer to the context and in so doing creating memorable experiences.

In terms of film, as might be expected, Wenders’ ‘If Buildings Could Talk’ drew much attention. In this, his first film about architecture, he explores the premise that buildings can tell us their thoughts and ventures into the use of 3d, another first for him.

A study of the SANNA’s Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, this film is in many ways classic Wenders - the disembodied voice, wondering `narrative and camera in motion; however by augmenting the film with the use of 3d, he creates a heightened, impression of the building’s material quality.

...such elevation above the prosaic is one of the functions of film, if not necesesarily of architecture...

The notion that a building might account for itself in this way, it's thoughts suddenly becoming audible to it's users, leads one to wonder what other buildings gifted with this power might say. Here the voice adds to the sense that the Rolex centre is a kind of Utopia of learning.

This is an unashmedly slick piece of film-making, maybe, rather like its 3d predecessor Avatar, it creates a rather too perfect world...and the deploying of voices? Well, I like the device; in the Wenders masterpiece ‘Wings of Desire’, where it illuminates private worlds it is genious, but here? Well it’s all a little too utopian. Though such elevation above the prosaic is one of the functions of film, if not necessarily of architecture, this is all just a bit too marvelous. However, all that said, the film is, a visually stunning piece, worth watching for the way in which subtly, rather than brashfully exploites the possibilities of 3d technology.

It was a treat to be able to follow the experience by listening to the interview Wenders gives as part of Hans Ulrich Obrist’s NOW installation. In this the director explains his early influences - rather than drawing on the work of other filmmakers, he was initially inspired by painters, particularly Vermeer and the other Dutch masters. From them he learned about framing and story-telling. For me this so illuminated the work I had just seen that I went back and watched it again...

the notion that building might account for itself in this way leads one to wonder what other buildings gifted with this power might say...

There were other filmic gems, hidden away within the Arsenale and amougst the Pavilions of the Giardini, my favourite being the Russian Pavilion-Factory Russia and it’s film about the Russian town Vyshny Volochok.

The Pavilion explores the decay and memory and of buildings. The film, a journey through post industrial wasteland is shot with Tarkovskyesque attention to each frame and is, like Wenders work, exquisitely rendered.

Both films mentioned here are worth a view even out of the Biennale context. One imagines the Wenders film will make some sort of tour or pop up in exhibitions accross Europe and farther a field.

Below are some of the other contributions we liked...

Berger and Berger's Pre-fabicated Pavilion

By Sarah Akigbogun

Part of The Discussions on Film Blog series

Background Image-Janet Cardiff's The Forty Par Motet in Venice