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Robinson, Viva Arte Viva Kicks Off: The 57th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale

The 57th International Art Exhibition will open to the public starting Saturday, May 13, and will run until November 26. Curated by Christine Macel and organized by the Venice Biennale under the presidency of Paolo Baratta, this year’s edition is titled Viva Arte Viva and features the participation of 120 artists from 51 countries, including three making their debut: Antigua and Barbuda, Kiribati, and Nigeria.

“The lives of both visitors and artists will be at the center of this Biennale, filled with colors, emotions, sensations, and joie de vivre,” the curator revealed during the presentation of what can be expected at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other venues throughout the city.

The event will be featured on the cover of the upcoming issue of Robinson, available with La Repubblica newspaper on Sunday, May 7.

by Valentina Tosoni

La Republica May 5, 2017

The exhibition halls of the Ca’ Foscari library open their doors to Hybris: Hybrids and Monsters in Contemporary Art, organized by MediaArtLab CYLAND.
On display are works by 19 artists from Italy, Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and the United States, who have explored one of the fundamental mechanisms of society: the connection of what cannot be connected, the issues in the relationship between what is “one’s own” and what belongs to “the other.”

The exhibition, curated by Silvia Burini, Giuseppe Barbieri, Anna Frants, and Elena Gubanova, with assistance from Angela Bianco, Alessia Cavallaro, and Varvara Egorova, brings together new technologies and old media to create a space where the personal territory of each work is not defined, but merges and interacts, generating new “hybrid fruits” of artistic perception.

Structured cyberspaces, post-Soviet reflections, hybrids of geometry and classical art, of art and life – this wide array of objects presented by the artists suggests that this theme was as relevant 5,000 years ago as it is today. In the modern world, the concept of the “hybrid” has become an inalienable part of daily life. Mechanisms, computers, products, clothing, educational methods, spaces, bodies, languages, and even instruments of war are all hybrid.

Etymologically, the Greek term hybris – from which the Latin hybridus is derived – means sin and arrogance, hubris. The early Greek philosophers saw humans and nature as a single entity. Separation from nature was accompanied by pride and daring (hybris), which led to chaos and destruction. Such behavior (Icarus, Phaethon, Ajax) is described in Greek mythology as a constant human striving toward a higher dimension, relentlessly punished by the gods. If we consider the modern “technological revolution” in this light, then humankind’s effort to conquer the world at all costs and to create hybrid prosthetics for everyday life is, in every sense, modern hybris.

However, in contemporary art, this effort proves fruitful, sweeping away the cliché of the world’s “vile ordinariness.” Rebellion, protest, and audacity bring us back to the clash between order and chaos; they place us unflinchingly before the mirror of our identity. It seems that artists, more radically than anyone else, offer us a juxtaposition and exchange with the “otherness” entering our everyday lives. What does the future hold if machines become an extension of the human species? What happens if technology no longer needs humans?

The dynamic nature of culture is the result of the coexistence of different languages in a shared cultural space: the more crowded and saturated the cultural space is, the more complex the system it generates—and the more accurate its representation of the world around us becomes.

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Useful Information for Hybris: Hybrids and Monsters in Contemporary Art:
Venue: Ca’ Foscari Zattere, Cultural Flow Zone, Zattere, Dorsoduro 1392, 30123 Venice
Public Transport Stop: Zattere
Dates: On view until June 28, 2017
Opening Hours: TUE–SAT 10:00–19:00 | SUN 15:00–20:00

TGcom24  June 7, 2017

In the modern world, the notion of the “hybrid” has become an inseparable component of everyday life. Mechanisms, computers, products, clothing, methods of education, spaces, bodies, languages—even instruments of war—are all hybrids. Etymologically, the Greek term hybris, from which the Latin hybridus is derived, means sin and arrogance—hubris. The first Greek philosophers viewed humankind and nature as a single entity. The separation from nature was accompanied by pride and boldness (hybris), which brought about chaos and destruction. Such behavior (Icarus, Phaethon, Ajax) is described in Greek mythology as a constant human striving toward a higher dimension, relentlessly punished by the gods. If we view today’s “technological revolution” through this lens, then humanity’s efforts to conquer the world at any cost—and to create hybrid prostheses for daily life—can indeed be seen as modern hybris.

However, in contemporary art, this effort succeeds, sweeping away the cliché of the “vile ordinariness” of the world. Rebellion, protest, and audacity place us once again at the clash between order and chaos; they unflinchingly hold up a mirror to our own identity. Artists, more radically than anyone else, seem to offer a juxtaposition and exchange with the “otherness” that infiltrates our daily lives. What will our future be like if machines become extensions of the human species? What happens if technologies no longer need humans?

The project, exhibited in the gallery spaces of Ca’ Foscari’s library and organized by the MediaArtLab CYLAND, includes works by 19 artists from Italy, Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, and the United States. The project explores one of society’s fundamental mechanisms—the connection of the unconnectable, the problems in relationships between “the self” and “the other,” blurring the boundaries of clearly defined concepts. In this exhibition, new technologies and old media create a space where the personal territory of each artwork is not confined but merges and influences the others, generating new “hybrid fruits” of artistic perception. Structured cyberspaces, post-Soviet reflections, hybrids of geometry and classics, art and life—this diversity of artistic objects illustrates how relevant this theme was 5,000 years ago and still is today.

The dynamic nature of culture is the result of the coexistence of different languages within a shared cultural space: the more crowded and saturated this space is, the more complex the resulting system—and the more precise its representation of the world around us.

Founded in 2007, CYLAND is a non-profit organization committed to expanding the intersection between art and technology through an annual international festival, exhibitions, sound art, visual art, and educational programs. CYLAND hosts Eastern Europe’s largest online video art archive, organizes exhibitions worldwide, and is the driving force behind CYFEST, the largest annual new media art event in Russia.

Artists: Lucia Veronesi (IT), Alvise Bittente (IT), Valentina Povarova (RU), Irina Nakhova (RU+USA), William Latham (UK), Alexandra Dementieva (Belgium), Peter Patchen (USA), German Vinogradov (RU), Alexander Terebenin (RU), Alexei Kostroma (DE), Vitaly Pushnitsky (RU), Ludmila Belova (RU), Ivan Govorkov (RU), Elena Gubanova (RU), Carla Gannis (USA), Anna Frants (RU+USA), Alexander Shishkin-Hokusai (RU), Natalia Lyakh (FR), Boris Kazakov (RU).