Canada Kicks It

The Canadians kicked it. Who knew they'd be the ones to save the day? We're looking at you, USA; what were you thinking? Day 3 of the art trek and day 2 of the official Biennale sites looked to be as flat as day 1. The Guardian's review of the pavillions at Giardini described it as a "dull trudge" and, for the most part we concurred. The main pavillion was turgid and for most of the time it was impossible even to know what we were looking at. The Andreas Gursky photos were the sole relief - brilliant juxtaposition of, on the one hand, a shot of a basket weaving factory (people making things) and, on the other, a series taken in Stock Exchanges around the world (people making nothing). Although one of our number quite liked the video of a guy coughing up blood, but even that was qualified with a "weird". We nearly called it quits at lunchtime; the whole thing was so depressing, serious and annoying.

Maybe the bottles of wine at lunch helped, although I think they probably served to restore faith rather than get us pissed, so we had another go. Sarah Lucas in the GB pavillion was better. Fags in fannies are amusing, as are giant dildos, but she's only really got the one joke and it doesn't quite cut it (Ha!). The boys enjoyed it. The Russians had an astronaut / elephant thing that was suitably creepy and the installation in the Japan pavillion of thousands of keys hanging from the ceiling over a fishing boat was beautiful. So, much better.

But it was the Canadians who stole the show by a very very long way. First there was a mock up corner shop. And then you realise some of the packet labels are out of focus and some aren't. The more you look the more it unnerves you. Clever trick. And then upstairs is a massive coin run. The sign says it only accepts euros. We were fooled - what difference does it make? So we rolled coins down the elaborate Meccano type structure and the coins disappeared down the twisty track and into a bagatelle kind of ping pong wall at the end. So that was 50 cents wasted. Or not. It was fun and we did it again.

Like much of the art on show it makes a serious point about society and the world today. Unlike just about every other piece we've seen, it was done with wit, skill, humour and spectacle. I didn't begrudge them the money because they provided a cheap thrill. The rest of the art world should take note and lighten up.

TL:DR This is important. Go back to the start.