Hearing (and Feeling) the Contemporary Art of Allora & Calzadilla

Imagine standing in a bare room in which a small, 4-billion-year-old rock hangs from the ceiling by a thin wire as three vocalists whistle and breathe on it to make it swing. For some people, such a scenario might be the nightmare version of contemporary art run amok, so far “out there” that it’s never coming back. However, standing there and watching the piece, titled Lifespan, part of the new exhibition Allora & Calzadilla: Intervals, I couldn’t help but find myself mentally urging the rock to move, as perhaps others in the crowd were, too. The art of collaborators Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla encourages this kind of chain-reaction collaboration by making you first hear the work and then feel it in your mind and body. For those who think contemporary art’s lost in space, Allora and Calzadilla bring it back to Earth. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Hearing (and Feeling) the Contemporary Art of Allora & Calzadilla."

Has the Venice Biennale’s World Been Turned Upside Down for Good?

When George Washington (with some help from the French) forced the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown to end the American Revolution in 1781, the British played a little ditty called “The World Turned Upside Down” at the surrender ceremony. At this year’s Venice Biennale, the world of national art exhibitions and competitions may be turned upside down for good thanks to a new revolution in anti-nationalism challenging the old system. Guillermo Calzadilla and Jennifer Allora’s Gloria, part of which (called “Track and Field”) features a tank turned upside down in an inversion of militant nationalism (shown above), belongs to the contingent representing the United States. Since 1895, the Venice Biennale has provided a forum for countries to compete in an arts Olympics, but will that tradition last much longer? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Has the Venice Biennale’s World Been Turned Upside Down for Good?"

[Image: Guillermo Calzadilla and Jennifer Allora. Gloria. 2011.]