Luxuriating in some, much needed, Time of Reflection

Playing in my studio

So much of being an artist is experiencing, feeling and reflecting on your personal experiences. These can be experiences in the physical world or even the world inside your head. 

………...I am currently luxuriating in a, much needed, time of reflection…………..

#Studio time #3D #collage #mixedmedia #artistplaying #feedthesenses #sensory #seriousaboutplay

A post shared by Kirsty E Smith (@frillipmoolog) on Jul 3, 2018 at 10:46am PDT

So often people think that as creatives we simply ‘make stuff’; well that’s NEVER the case! 

I need to have space: to think; to reflect; to daydream and to NOT feel time pressure. I have always said that I work in a playful way and that I respond to materials intuitively. I prefer not to overthink and not to have to explain or justify, therefore it is often difficult to talk about my work. 

I have always admired the way that, for example, Richard Slee doesn’t write about his own work. (In fact he also never answers his emails; you have to know who he shares an office with and email them and that person then communicates the message to Richard!...... But I digress!) 

That little aside gives a small insight into the tangents that my mind can take. A good friend commented, “But without your delightfully tangential thinking (and conversational habits) you wouldn’t be Kirsty”. I decided to take this friend’s acceptance very positively. 

You can never do too much playing

I have recently been reflecting on my experience of educational institutions both as a child and also more recently while completing PGCE teacher training with Sheffield Hallam University. I have been thinking about my (variably successful) attempts to fit-in; feelings of difference and how these have actually added positively to my art practice. I think that it’s an indisputable fact that interesting artists have unique viewpoints and interpretations of the world. 

I find it so much easier to express deep personal thoughts and emotions through the materials that I use and the sculptural forms that my physical art takes. Of course I understand why some people instantly see the erotic in my work but when making I stop myself from being self-critical nor shy about showing this side of myself.

Buddy (AKA Space Kitty) 

Last week I attended a Bloc Projects artist talk presented by Florence Mytum (she too uses materials which are rich in their sensory qualities). Florence mentioned Michel Serres’ The Five Senses in which Serres makes a stand against the analytical tradition of philosophy where language dominates over phenomenological experiences. Serres disagrees with the reductive tendency of logic, which says that in the hierarchy of the senses articulation through language is at the top of the sensory pyramid and tactile qualities are at the bottom. I am in agreement with Serres generally in that I do feel that, ‘we need to return to the immediacy of the senses’, and this isn’t me just being lazy about writing about my art, rather I want people to experience it …. to experience it in the flesh; not just on a screen. 

Most people can't help themselves... even if they are in an art gallery 

In my practice I push ‘touch’ to the top of the pyramid (with form and colour being close followers). 

In fact I am very happy when observers actually struggle to articulate their own responses. I enjoy when they are lost for words because their brains have been overloaded with memories, gut reactions, emotions and memory flashbacks that an encounter with my work has triggered. 

The London Experience: Deep Space Moolog at TestBed1

Everything that I do always seems to take longer than I expected BUT once I set my mind to something I do make it happen! Plus I’m always amazed by the ‘magnetic’ power of enthusiasm and positivity (two characteristics that people seem to associate with me). 

After showing my Arts Council supported installation, DeepSpaceMoolog, at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, North Lincolnshire (Sep-Nov 2016) I knew that I wanted to show it again and I particularly wanted to find a more cavelike venue; the motivation for this being that the original inspiration for DeepSpaceMoolog came from the ancient cave-drawings in the Creswell Crags cave system.

Things all came together back in May this year. This happened with the help, support and encouragement of various people; firstly George Wade at ALLDesign pointed me in the direction of Jasmine at the (recently relocated) DoodleBar, Bermondsey, London. 

Next, the DoodleBar team offered me - one of the earliest showing slots in Testbed1 - in the rear arches of the DoodleBar. In fact, it was such an early slot that at that point there was no mains electricity so I knew from the beginning that I would be reliant on a petrol driven generator (not noisy as it was sited out in the back area). Testbed1 had already hosted events by: RCA Performance Pathway students, The Architectural Association and some band photo/ film shoots so I knew that, with the right lighting, DeepSpaceMoolog could be very atmospheric. 

The next step was to work out how to suspend my beautiful digitally printed fabric cave ‘wall’ but there were restrictions on attaching anything to the metal clad brick railway arch walls (these rail people are fussy). So my ‘belt and braces’ method involved concrete filled buckets, wooden uprights, canes and cable ties. This method had some plus points including improving my concrete mixing skills (big thanks to Richard Bartle at Bloc Studios for his tips). 

Thanks to 20-21 for the video screen and speakers and Sparks Theatrical were brilliant at advising on the stage lighting that I required. The logistics of 'operation DeepSpaceMoolog in London'; hanging system, van hire, generator hire and lighting were scary but ...it was an adventure?! 

In the end, the set-up was easier than I had expected but this was in big part thanks to Dominic Ewan and Dave W’s moral support and very practical technical assistance. Plus a cup of DoodleBar tea to start! 

Dominic Ewan’s experience in live events and performance lighting was invaluable and it was thanks to his skills and patience that the cave atmosphere was achieved. I really love the shadows that the beings and spacerocks cast as they magnified the drama and otherworldliness of the DeepSpaceMoolog experience and made it much more immersive; exactly what I wanted!

Another aspect of the vaulted space of Testbed1 was that it gave an even more sinister quality the DeepSpaceMoolog video soundtrack as it bounced off the tunnel walls. If only Alan Watts could time travel and come back to hear how I’ve woven his philosophical ponderings into this installation.

A post shared by Kirsty E Smith (@frillipmoolog) on Jun 9, 2017 at 8:54am PDT

Visitors who arrived during the day; walked through the fairly light entrance, turned the corner into Testbed1 and, although fairly dark, they could still see most of the details on the printed cave backdrop- whereas visitors who came later in the evening had the darker experience. 

Some visitors even had the emergency power version. I.E. when the generator unexpectedly ran out of fuel and we had to resort to head torches! Interestingly my fellow cave visitors at that time loved it! 

Having put so much creative energy, time and a big chunk of my life into making the work for DeepSpaceMoolog it was really brilliant to give it another showing and have it seen by even more people. It was wonderful to see Andrew Logan again and I am eternally grateful for his enthusiasm and support. 

Despite DeepSpaceMoolog originally being inspired by the cave art of Creswell Crags the beings (sculptures) can be appreciated on various levels; you don’t need to be part of the art world to ‘get it’. 

During the four days of the London showing the installation was visited by people of all ages (youngest was just 2 years old) and nationalities. It was experienced by people from Britain, France, Norway, Chile and was a BIG hit with Australians (are they more open minded, less restrained or really just into the possibility of Time Travel? )

So what’s next?……

Quirky British Animal shaped Charity Collection Boxes and how Artists Connect with them

April 2010 in Derby and July 2010 on the Isle of Wight

Why oh why do I love these animal (mostly dog) shaped money collection tins?

Of course being an artist I think far too much about these sorts of things and I ask myself even more questions such as:
When did I start liking them? What sorts of shops are they outside? How much money actually gets put inside? and have I myself even put any money inside one?

You can't kid a kid.
Here we have one collection tin in Shropshire/ Herefordshire in May 2011 and my friend Ben Sadler's lovely little daughter with an identical doggie in Birmingham 

I’ve even wondered if anyone has ever tried to steal one; I mean there can’t be that much money in them can there? 
Answer.. actually there can and yes people have. So even in sleepy Dursley thieves get so desperate as to have, not one but two, goes at pinching the labrador shaped money collecting box from their local swimming pool 

And yes, believe it or not, there is quite a bit of cash in these boxes. Website SOFII explains that actually people are much more generous when they can stay anonymous, and also when people can put as little as a penny in it has been proven that overall, donations (in total) are actually higher if people can put a penny in rather than being put on the spot and asked for a suggested minimum donation.

This one must be popular because I spotted it again in Portmerion in May 2012

BUT that is NOT WHAT THIS BLOG IS ABOUT!
What I really want to do is share some of my personal photos and maybe give a tiny insight into the mind of a creative person...Me!

Ever since I have had a photographic device at the ready at all times (I called it ‘handbag camera’ back in 2006) I have taken a lot of photos of things that I find interesting and after a while I started to notice that I had collected quite a few photos of animal money charity collecting tins (these were in my sub-folder called ‘Fun and Weird’). Gosh how things have moved on in the last few years, with Twitter, Instagram and tagging making it possible to share and develop a tagged collection of images as you go along.

The dogs on the left spotted in Portmerion car park May 2012 and dogs on the right some place in Shropshire/ Herefordshire May 2011

Oh well maybe there could also be a case for a small and personal personal collection of images developing and now being ready to be ‘hatched’ and released publicly online.

I am most likely to be the best person to be able to appreciate both sides of this argument because I am really quite an impatient person but strangely at the same time am also one of the slowest people to think about things and decide when to ‘go public' on something. 

Basil Brush; He probably says a lot about the era that these boxes were made in
1960's and 70's. 

I think this blog post might just be another little insight into me, Kirsty E Smith, the artist.

Look at these photos, check the dates, check the locations. What does this tell you? Do I have patience, am I fickle in my tastes and interests or am I the sort of person who is described (annoyingly) as quirky but also as reliable, individual and constant.

Robin tin first spotted in Portmerion 2012 and then 2 years later in my new home,  Hillsborough, Sheffield 2014.

I know what I like and do I really have to explain why I like it? No! Don't answer because this is a rhetorical question. 

And finally ... I am not the only one! For a few more animal shaped money  collection boxes click here! 

What do Artists do on their Holidays? (this is NOT a food blog!)

This me Kirsty E Smith on holiday. This is a photo of a special moment.

Two favourite books from my childhood were Richard Scary’s ‘What do people do all day’ and ‘Busy, BusyTown’. I especially loved the quite surreal illustrations; the banana-mobile and much more. There is also now a great BBC4 television series called ‘What do artists do all day’. 

Illustrations from Richard Scarry books

But here’s my question; What do artists do when they are on holiday? 

My own art is about people, connections and personalities so I suppose it isn't all that surprising that although I managed to get my dose of architectural concrete (another passion) in on my relaxing and sunny Greek holiday, what is actually much more special to me, is the unexpected and special human connections made while doing the usual everyday things. 

Yes on this holiday I climbed over a mountain in extreme heat, dived off a sailing ship, swam in thermal pools, scuba dived for the first time and even fitted in a ride on the local fun (land) train. But actually whatever exciting things we humans do each day we still have to do the normal everyday stuff. Eating is pretty everyday and necessary and shopping for food is normally a job that you just have to ‘get done’. 

However when shopping in small independent shops it is completely different. People go to those shops not only for a product but also for an experience and when it is a small personally run shop they also want to feel that their purchase is appreciated (and I should know because I did set up and run my own artisan cheese shop in the past.) 

This is me way back in 1991

Yes you can sell top quality products but great products with (on top of that) a memorable human interaction is so much more. This is what makes life worth living! 

And what better than when a customer who appreciates these values buys from an artisan shopkeeper who loves to supply an authentic product to appreciative customers. The connection is so special but also so difficult to explain but actually it should need absolutely no explanation. 

When the relationship works it works perfectly; it does not have to be explained. 
Enthusiasm is a word that is often associated with me. I can’t help it I really am genuinely enthusiastic about so much in life (and quality artisan bakery products is just be one thing that I get excited about!) 

anticipation!

Santa Irini Bakery Perissa, Santorini, Greece (Yes it really is open 24 hours a day!)

perusing the biscuits

But on reflection the root of this excitement is when I feel that I have met a fellow human being who I feel a deep connection with. Someone who takes pride in their work, works to the highest standards, values interaction with other fellow human beings and who works with integrity. 

So that’s the emotional part of this blog post over now on to some factual information and more photos!

Over the seven days of our holiday we went into the Santa Irini bakery not once a day but by the end of the holiday actually twice a day. We bought all sorts from flat rustic white rolls for lunchtime picnics, bread for breakfast, beautifully soft and delicious apple cake and chocolate cake. We ate spinach and feta pie by candlelight when we were too tired to cook ....or even eat out and we had fab picnics in unexpected places where a hunk of bread was perfect with our homemade tzatziki. We also enjoyed biscuits with jam and coconut and sprinkles to boost us before our scuba dive but also to make the airport queue much more bearable. 

take the locals' advice do not do this climb in the blazing sunshine

feet up

mid climb sustenance

Got bread and Swiss army knife...Sorted! 

we shared this...honest!

The best way to use up 'spare' greek yogurt? Buy some some delicious apple cake and chocolate pie.

Going into the Santa Irini bakery was not just about buying home made food to sustain us but actually we (my children Bryony 20 and Dominic 17) and I all enjoy human interaction such a lot that when our big baker (we quickly named him The Hairy Baker - see postscript for explanation) came round the counter to speak with us and to shake hands with us it was completely clear that he too is someone who appreciates human interaction and contact with people who connect on an emotional level. He knew that our enthusiasm and appreciation was sincere. 

a lovely moment

let's talk about bread, merino wool vests and much more

The 'Hairy Baker' is called Spiros and the bakery was first set up by his ...father... grand father...or even great-grandfather?  Anyway, it has been running since 1937 and not only is it an excellent bakery but it is also open 24 hours a day! 
This man does not sleep!!!

Postscript:
My father Andrew Kyle Imrie Smith died only a few days before this holiday. He was 91 and an amazing and very inspirational man. 
Amongst the many things that he did teach me is that talking to strangers is absolutely crucial to making sense of our (short) time on this planet. 
As a child it used to be annoying and frustrating when dad stopped to strike up conversation with a complete stranger but actually what I learned from seeing what came from these spontaneous conversations is actually what fires me up now in my own life and also what (not surprisingly) I have passed on to my own children. Already Bryony, my daughter, has started writing a blog- One Great People which (amongst other things) is about people who have touched her life while being a student in the North East of England and my son Dominic found it only too natural to join in a community Apple Crumble Celebration only weeks after we had moved to a completely new city- Sheffield.  

Explanation about the Hairy Baker reference:
In the UK there is a cookery programme called The Hairy Bikers 
It is presented by two men who not only are good at cooking but also ride motor bikes and are hairy (mostly on their heads and faces) so it seemed obvious to call Spiros The Hairy Baker. And finally when I did speak to Spiros I was especially interested in his vest. I had already guessed (correctly) that it was made from merino wool. Merino wool is chosen by climbers and people who need protection from heat and cold. I am a farmers’ daughter, I have sheared sheep, I teach felt-making and textiles so yes of course it was of interest to me; I knew the importance of Spiros’s merino wool vest for doing his everyday, ‘extreme sport’ of baking for tourists ....and locals too.

PPS. This is an experience that I hope to repeat. 

Gardens of Sheffield: This city is growing on me but not in the Miracle-Gro sort of way!

The rugged beauty of a Sheffield garden- concrete and roses!

Considering that I am such a chatty and effervescent person people are often surprised that really I am quite shy and often get tongue tied. I've been wanting to write this blog post for ages but what on earth has held me back?

I moved 75 miles north from The Midlands to Sheffield at the beginning of October 2014 and although it was a well researched move it was also a move of faith i.e. faith that Sheffield was the right place to be.

Although originally from central Scotland I have lived in the Midlands for most of my life so uprooting and moving to Yorkshire after many years was a BIG thing and not something to be taken lightly. But It seems that my research paid off. 

I moved to Sheffield because (in no particular order)  I love the hills, it has amazing countryside so close-by - I live just a few minutes walk to open fields and and only a 10 minute drive to the Peak District proper, it is full of artists, it is often referred to as the biggest village in the UK and actually this works for me as although I like being within a short train journey to London I also like to be able to integrate into an art network fairly quickly. I am constantly amazed that although I feel that I have only been here for just  ‘5 minutes’ I keep bumping into people that I know... or at least I know a bit! 

And also a big thing which I didn’t know before but now believe to be true is that the Sheffield art world isn’t a snobby and hierarchical one. Basically as Lord Bunn (his title does nothing!) said, there is no hierarchy in this South Yorkshire city and if anyone tried to pull 'artworld rank' then they would very quickly be put in their place, plus be instantly laughed a too. I love this! 

We are all artists at at various levels of achievement and experience and are all aiming for a (moveable) point on our own future horizon. Perfect... we are all just people doing our own creative thing and also hopefully scratching each others backs and generally being encouraging and supportive of each other in our day to day lives of 'getting there'.

So what is this blog post all about?
Really the biggest and most burning thing that I want to share with you is GARDENS OF SHEFFIELD.

To be fair we were looking at houses from Easter to July (the sunnyish time of the Great British year) but when we moved up to Sheffield it was the beginning of October and the beginning of the dark damp winter months; certainly not the time of year to admire gardens. 
So these photos are my own newcomer’s shock-horror reaction to GARDENS OF SHEFFIELD.

This is a picture dairy and one that to be honest has actually occupied a LOT of my creative brain since moving here. It is exciting to be some place new and to be regularly tipped up by visual surprises. I am delighting in all this and am enjoying the regional differences to be found even in a country as small at this. 

When house hunting how different a house and its garden can look in real life. Images on www.rightmove.co.uk can be helpful but something that looks like photoshopped super-real grass on a photo is ... yes very likely to be fake grass when you get to view it in real life. And also a garden that is described as ‘easily maintained’ can actually turn out to be shed/garden or a completely decked garden. 

It became a bit of a thing with me when house hunting; I mean I had always assumed that gardens had grass and some plants but how wrong I was proven to be.

 The garden of one of the houses that we viewed when moving. The husband had decked it and installed a shed (with curtains and wi-fi) in just one weekend when his wife was away. She didn't seem to mind at all! 

A peculiarly Sheffield type of garden! 

I call this hardcore easy maintenance; slabs 'n' concrete with a token gesture of thorny shrubs. 

Another interesting peculiarity to Sheffield terrace houses is that (almost) no one uses their front door. You quickly learn to read the signs (some not so subtle) as to whether you should attempt to knock on what appears to be the front door or to find your way through a gennel and across some neighbours’ gardens to the back door.

Don't enter by this door or the (plastic) bush gets you! 

It's complicated ... but there is an easier way in.... by the back door.

Landscaping; it's a lot harder than it looks 

I love the optimism of palm trees in South Yorkshire.

Always good to try and brighten things up in the dark winter months.
These plastic daliahs always make me giggle.

Being amazed and delighted by yet another spectacular sunrise-  something I hadn't anticipated. 

Sheffield never a dull moment and absolutely the right place for someone with an adventurous nature... that’s me!

55th Venice Biennale - even more recommendations of what to see before it closes

I did promise a second blog post about our exploits at the 55th Venice Biennale and as it nears its end I though I had better get a move on.
  
Sunny skies, relaxing canals, and plenty to see and do; what more could you want from an art holiday? It also helped that our apartment was fairly central and also being 600 years old it added to the atmospheric Venetian experience. As mentioned in my previous blog post we did get lost often and so my advice is to allow time for everything to take a bit longer than you expect. 

Our perfect apartment in Venice, home for 5 nights in July 

In my first post about the Biennale I mentioned the artist and artworks that sprang immediately to mind when people asked about my favorites and in this post I will continue with more from other memorable biennale experiences. 

Arriving at our apartment at 2pm we still had time to walk through the city to The Giardini and buy tickets in readiness for a full day of art the following day. I was also very pleased  that we were able to hop onto Joana Vasconcelos’s pavilion Trafaria Praia on time for the 5pm sail around the lagoon. Having watched online updates of the Portugese ferry boat being renovated over the previous months I was definitely focused on experiencing it for myself. The gentle sail around the lagoon sitting on Portuguese cork stools and then getting up close and personal with her luscious textile glad grotto below deck were very definitely worth  it.

Detail of the luxurious, textural and sensual delight that was the below deck 'grotto' on Trafaria Praia

The next day we did our best at ‘doing’ The Giardini. The Encyclopedic Palace exhibition which has been curated by Massimiliano Gioni is split in half; half is within The Giardini and the other half in The Arsenale. 

The first item of the Encyclopedic Palace show that you encounter in The Giardini is Carl Jung’s famous Red Book. Photographs of this weren’t allowed but you can see selected images here. However experiencing it was absolutely fantastic; with theatrical lighting and luscious pigments the illustrations in his book are really quite breathtaking and it all felt quite wondrous. The book is especially important as it was during the period in which he worked on this book (1914 - 1930) that Jung developed his principal theories of archetypes, collective unconscious, and the process of individuation. 

His illustrations are records of the visions that he achieved through what he called 'active imagination' - a process that helped inspire his concept of the collective unconscious. It is said to be possibly the most influential unpublished work in the history of psychology. 

Massimiliano Gioni has curated an exhibition which tries to show the amazing breadth and variety of art that has been made by artists (worldwide and over many years) in an attempt to discover what the world really is about. He has selected works by both artists and outsider artists all of whom have tried, or are still trying, to find a way to make sense of the world. And then the question is, "Is it 'The' world or their world?" There are many many possibilities and a sense of the cosmic very definitely runs throughout the show. Some artists seem to take a fairly systematic approach to their explorations where others tackle the subject from many angles at once. They all have incredibly idiosyncratic views of the world; and isn’t this precisely what makes humans so interesting? 

Eva Kotátková’s installation, Unsigned (Gugging), is a visual presentation of the parallel worlds of psychiatric patients, prisoners and people held in (and who feel trapped) in educational institutions. She is interested in their own inner universes. 

Just a few worries as recorded during Eva Kotatkova's research

Faced with such a concentration of visual stimulation as you are in the Biennale you do start to respond by listening first and foremost to your instinct. I fell in love with this painting by Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern, my personal name for it is, 'A bit bitey', (a favourite phrase of mine from the film Shaun of the Dead) but I didn’t read the entry in the guidebook until months later when I noticed that a cousin who is currently at the Biennale was also sharing images of his work online. I decided to find out more- I had assumed that he was an outsider artist and I was right but there is much more to know about him including: that he created his own mystical cult, was admired by the Surrealists and also worked as a dairy farmer and a circus performer during his very strange and eventful life. 

'A Bit Bitey' is the perfect name... in my opinion!

I turned around in the gallery teeming with other Biennale visitors and was drawn to a collection of small dolls house like models; intrigued I inspected them more closely and I observed that each drab and dingy model room seemed to be supported on small funnels. This art required that I open the guide book straight away! So this contemporary artist, Andra Ursuta, has made these in an attempt to purge herself of, "past physic trauma”. These are models of her childhood home in Transylvania where her family made a living from rendering down pig fat to make soap. For me the funnel shaped pedestals/ legs represent the draining away of this fairly repulsive material. Not pretty but very personal. 

The amazing collection of 387 model buildings made by Austrian insurance clerk, Peter Fritz and presented as an artwork by artist Oliver Croy and architecture critic Oliver Elser is very definitely pretty, but for me it is especially of interest because of the story behind it. I personally love the homemade aesthetic of models (flowery wall paper and (now) vintage DYMO tape sign writing) but I would prefer to put more emphasis on and celebrate the creative endeavours of Peter Fritz. What I feel uneasy with is that simply by discovering it and presenting them collectively in an art situation should that give the discoverer of the models (Oliver Croy and the architecture critic Oliver Elsner the elevated importance that they seem to have been given - their names are at the head of page 66 of the Biennale Guide Book. Does discovering work (admittedly after it’s creator had died) and going to the bother of presenting it give you any amount of artistic ownership? 

Spot the DYMO tape sign-writing on this one 

Back out in the Giardini we appreciated not only the art but also the variety of pavilion buildings themselves. 

I have no idea which country this pavilion belongs to but I do love the roofline.

I have no idea which country this pavilion belongs to but I do love the roofline

Talking of roofs, Simryn Gill, representing Australia this year, took the roof off of their pavilion completely. This building was designed by Philip Cox and built in 1988. A new building has been commissioned and will be completed by 2015. This one has done very well as it was only intended to be temporary and has lasted 25 years. 

The building has very appealing curves and also a certain 'open-ness' now. 

Sadly we just missed the last entry to the Republic of Korean pavilion so I wasn’t able to experience the, much talked about, immersive experience. All I have is this tantalising glimpse into something kaleidoscopic, etherial (and sparkly!)

However we did time it just right for the Polish pavilion. Once an hour you hear the very impressive sound art of Konrad Smoleński. Smoleński has composed a symphony using traditional bronze bells, full-range speakers and other sonorous objects (metal lockers with doors which reverberate) and the guide book explains, “By using a delay effect, Konrad Smoleński offers an insight into a world where history has come to a standstill, thereby approaching the radical propositions of contemporary physics with its perception of the passage of time as an illusion”. 

That’s the ‘art stuff’ and now for my description- From outside it doesn’t seem all that loud, then while I sat at the entrance preparing my ears for the thundering, booming, buzzing, vibrations I watched as people exited (some of them with hands over their ears and looking in pain). So I took the plunge and stepped into this magnificent wall of sound; it completely vibrated through my body and felt extremely powerful. Sadly this video does not do it justice at all and when I tried to record it myself my video replayed completely silently as it is beyond the limits of most small electronic recording devices. 

One of the two cast bronze bells, speakers and metals lockers , all part of the Polish pavilion sound art

Sometimes art can be a bit too clever well too clever for art tourists which have a lot of art to see in a limited period of time. We later read that the front of the Danish Pavilion had been modified so it’s no wonder that we failed to find the entrance and so sadly didn’t get to see Jesper Just’s video pieces. This Designboom article shows more pictures of what I was up against and explains that the work was both video and also an architectural intervention playing with the architecture of the space. 

But if you can’t find the door within 30 seconds I’m afraid we had to move on; Pavilions to go to and Art to see!

I really can't find the door!

Would I be blowing the British trumpet too loudly if I said that Jeremy Deller got it just right? Art should be refreshing so serve your weary art visitors tea, show them something really old (and of course present it well) and then give them a chance to make their own souvenir print to take home. He ticks a lot of my boxes!

Neolithic flint axe heads .... and of course beautifully presented. 

I think Jeremy Deller would be happy to know that every time I use my downstairs toilet I am reminded of him and his 55th Venice Biennale show. A do-it-yourself souvenir always wins support!

I still haven’t mentioned all that is worthy of mention so my advice is to either hop on a plane now and catch the 55 The Venice Bienalle before it closes on 24th November 2013 or alternatively plan ahead for the next one in 2015.