Last two months have been quite busy, but mostly in the sense of traveling and meeting people. While at the same time I’ve tried to stay away from computers as much as possible. And it’s been great.

I’ve spent whole June traveling throughout Slovenia and Croatia and made two trips to Venice. As you can imagine one month’s time is enough to visit a lot of places. Thus I’ll mention only those that have really made a lasting impression on me.

Istrian peninsula in Croatia is a gem. I especially like the northern part which is dotted with small, picturesque villages on hilltops. The towns of Motovun and Grožnjan are an absolute must if you are in the vicinity. Both have served as a settlement since the medieval times and still retained some of that spirit within narrow, cobbled and winding pathways between stone houses.

Another great place I’ve visited in June is the Croatian coast with its thousand or so islands. The nature is absolutely fantastic and in spite of the often unfriendly and even plain rude service, I’ve really enjoyed island hopping on the northern islands of Krk, Cres, Lošinj, Ilovik and Murter. The sea on all these islands is crystal clear and since I’ve been there in off-season period in most of the places I’ve visited it was not hard to find a quiet spot and a private beach.

On this same trip I’ve also managed to visit National parks of Plitvice lakes and river Krka. It’s simply unbelievable how much water runs through these places and how green both of them are.

And the result of the similar geological processes and strucutres in Plitvice lakes and river Krka waterfalls is Križna cave in Slovenia. Now, in Slovenia there are around nine thousand caves of which I have visited only a few, but Križna cave is something special. As they want to keep the cave in as untouched state as possible, they only let in four people per day. And since it’s a water cave it is not possible to enter it if there’s been much rain in the preceding days. So it’s not exactly easy to get in, but it was definitely worth the effort and schedule juggling.

You enter the cave in caving overalls, rubber boots, with a helmet and a head lamp, which all make you fell you’re ready for a real adventure. And that’s exactly what it was. In the cave there are more than a dozen lakes, so practically the whole four hour trip is done in small rubber boats. Besides plethora of stalagmites, stalactites and columns, you also get a chance to experience moments of total darkness and total silence. And believe me, such a place is a treasure today. Once you are 70 or so meters below the ground there’s no way any light or sounds would get in … except for those you bring with you. Although the feeling could be nerve racking (imagine being lost there!), it is absolutely relaxing.

I could go on and on about this and other places, but I’ll rather let you enjoy some of the pictures from these short trips I’ve made in June–you can find them in the gallery.

Now I’m back in Finland ready for new adventures, so come back soon.

Mladen

I guess Venice never fails to impress me. No matter how many times I’ve visited this small city, there’s always something there that turns the trip into an enjoyable experience. And this time around it was no different. When we (my mom accompanied me on this trip) arrived at around 9am we headed straight for the Giardini where the national pavilions are located and afterwards we went to Arsenale - a venue that was added to the biennial not too long ago - where individual artists display their works. There’s also a whole bunch of locations spread throughout Venice that either host performances or exhibitions that are directly tied to the biennial, but we’ve managed to visit only a few of those.

At this year’s biennial there were quite a few interesting and creative works on display that I really enjoyed. And I was taken by surprise to see so many video works. Now, I am not gung ho on painting, but I really enjoyed Ed Ruscha’s project Course of Empire (read an interview with Ruscha here). It consists of a series of black-and-white paintings entitled Blue Collar that he did in the 1990s which epitomize the American industrial culture and paintings that he did for this Biennale which respond or reflect on those earlier paintings. The black-and-white paintings speak about times long gone, while his new color series speaks in Ruscha’s words about his “doubts about progress in the world, and hopes for the world.” It is striking to see those images juxtaposed.

I’d also like to point out aero and sound installation Idiot Wind by the ProvMyza duet (Galina Myznikova and Sergey Provorov). It’s a series of dimly lit halls with varying degrees of wind force which escalates to strong wind at the end of the last hall where a small room is positioned. Ultimately this tactilely-aural experience (the halls are lined with hidden speakers emitting various ambient sounds) is the interplay between reflection on our immediate personal space and playfulness of audience that actively participates and cocreates this work. Idiot Wind is both contemplative and amusing at the same time.

Then there was also a piece (if it can even be called “a piece” since it is immaterial) by Tino Sehgal who has developed a specific form of art which takes shape only at the moment one’s encounter with it. At first, I was taken by surprise when I was approached by one of the pavilion attendants who offered to refund half of the entrance fee if I speak about market economy for several minutes. After she made that offer I peeked into a huge empty space behind the passage where she was standing and I immediately realized that it us at this very moment that are Tino’s work of art. His work thus presents the climax of Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel’s raison d’etre which they expressed in their manifesto published in 1963: “We wish to put the spectator in a situation which he initiates and transforms. We wish to develop in him an increased capacity for perception and action.”

Here’s a list of links to a few other artists whose works I particularly recommend at La Biennale 2005:
- Guerrilla Girls
- Eija-Liisa Ahtila
- Regina Jose Galindo
- Antoni Muntadas
- Robin Rhode

I mean I could go on at length about these and other works I liked, but I really think that these works speak best for themselves. So if you’ve got a chance to visit La Biennale, you should (it is open till November 6th 2005).

Mladen