'Art or Sound' is the Prada Foundation's new synaesthetic Venice show
In the midst of Venice's fast-paced Architectural Biennial, 'Art or Sound', the Prada Foundation's current show, feels like something of an intellectual's amusement park: poker-faced journalists find themselves stepping into pieces, pressing on buttons, playing rather than observing.
This is precisely the kind of boundary-shattering the exhibition's curator Germano Celant (who famously coined the term 'Arte Povera', or poor art), was looking for. After all, in today's highly controlled art world, where does one draw a line between work and play, art and commodity, the intellectual and the emotional?
Sprawling over the Foundation's majestic three storeys, this 'theatre of things', as Celant put it, is laid out as a jolly multi-media, interactive display of artworks, functional objects, and imaginary instruments. They range from 17th century musical boxes to early 20th century experimental trumpets by craftsmen of the time; see Man Ray's 'Violon d'Ingres' (1924) to John Cage's 'Water Walk' (1959), as well as contemporary work such as Loris Gréaud 'Crossfading Suitcase' (2004) - allowing, again, for a disruption between high and low.
To Celant, the sense of hierarchy is also present in the relationship between art and sound: 'The museum has become a vision-centric territory where all non-visual senses are repressed,' he said of the show.
The works chosen are missing a dimension if you don't listen: Laurie Anderson's 'Numbers Runners' (1979) for example, recreating a typical American phonebox, only becomes an entirely fuller proposition when the viewer picks up the receiver to hear the artists existential questions.
'I wanted to reinject life into the clinical, aseptic visual art space,' explained Celant about his choice to hold a series of performances by younger, often local artists such as Ricardo Berreta. 'In order to generate creative birth, art should be a labyrinth of senses.'
ADDRESS
Prada Foundation
Ca' Corner Della Regina
Venice
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Deyan Sudjic’s new book explores the appeal of analogue technology
‘Analogue: A Field Guide’ by Deyan Sudjic delves into the design history of hundreds of iconic pieces of personal tech
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Concrete House by the Ocean opens up to the elements in The Philippines
Concrete House by the Ocean by architect Micaela Benedicto of MB Architecture Studio is designed as an open-air pavilion in The Philippines
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Macallan Horizon with Bentley Motors is a decadent whisky with a luxurious twist
The Macallan and Bentley Motors release ‘The Macallan Horizon’, a single malt whisky with a 180-degree twisted presentation
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Giovanni Michelucci’s dramatic concrete church in the Italian Dolomites
Giovanni Michelucci’s concrete Church of Santa Maria Immacolata in the Italian Dolomites is a reverently uplifting memorial to the victims of a local disaster
By Jonathan Glancey Published
-
Milan’s 10 Corso Como revamp nods to the concept store’s industrial character
Milanese concept store 10 Corso Como unveils its new look by 2050+, a stripped-back design that nods to its 20th-century character
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Carlo Ratti announced curator of Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
Carlo Ratti has been revealed as the Director of the Architecture Department at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, with the specific task of curating the 19th International Architecture Exhibition
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Floating infinity pool by Herzog & De Meuron at Lake Como is largest of its kind
Herzog & de Meuron creates the largest floating infinity pool in the world for Mandarin Oriental in Lake Como
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Best of brutalist Italian architecture chronicled in new book
Brutalist Italian architecture enthusiasts and concrete completists will be spoilt for choice by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego’s pictorial tour
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Studio Tropicana, Switzerland and Italy: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023
Based in Switzerland and Italy, Studio Tropicana is part of the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
WeWork Meravigli blends past and present in a 21st-century office space
WeWork Meravigli launches in Milan, bringing its ornate, historical new home to the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
In memoriam: Paolo Portoghesi (1931 - 2023)
Postmodernist Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi has died; writer David Plaisant celebrates his life and legacy, recalling his visit to Calcata for a feature in the Wallpaper* April 2021 issue
By David Plaisant Published