Some notes from the Whitney Biennial.

Friday night we came down to the city to get our regular dose of stimulation. Yesterday we were at the Whitney Museum for the Biennial. This year we were also able to catch the extra exhibits at the Park Ave Armory. For the first time at the Biennial, I was swallowed up by the video installations. Three that stood out -

Javier Tellez - Letter on the Blind For the Use of Those Who See The blind and an elephant. Beautiful images of blind patients in contact with an elephant. Incredible details of the elephant skin and hypnotizing narration from the participants.

Omar Fast - The Casting. On the screen are silent, frozen actors. Captivating and chilling. The artist interviews the sergeant for an upcoming project. The man is questioned about a hookup in Germany with a self mutilating girl, but each time the story abruptly switches to a incident in Iraq where an innocent bystander was shot by his troop on patrol. The artist concludes "I don't want to make this too political", a comment on the fear that political art should be frowned upon.

The last was actually an African film from the late 60s. A man with a donkey and cart transports people and items around some shanty town in West Africa. A well dressed black man asks him for a ride to "the heights". The owner of the donkey cart does not want to go. "It is forbidden". But he gives in. Walking around the richer district, we see that this part of town is composed of large clean apartment buildings, the type found in most resorts. The cart owner is filled with fear. There they are stopped by a black officer and the poor man looses his cart some money and is told to get out. As he leaves the heights to enter the shanty town he says "This is where I am comfortable, this is my home. This is where I live."

Here's a post on the '06 Biennial.