Beschreibung
I was on my family vacation in Italy, watching a film where an artist dressed up as a giant talking piece of shit hangs out with friends at a cafe. I quickly started to question my life choices.
I was visiting the Venice Biennale, one of the most prestigious art events in the world. Every two years, nearly 100 countries send work from their most prominent artists. It’s cultural diplomacy dressed up as art—a chance for each nation to make a statement to the world about who they are. And in turn the rest of the world gets to decide what that says about you.
Some countries put forth some pretty bizarre offerings. At Austria's pavilion, you're greeted by an artist hanging naked inside a bell, serving as a human clapper. Inside, visitors are encouraged to pee in an outhouse. The urine gets purified and pumped into a tank where a naked woman scuba dives in it.
But I was most interested in the US pavilion. After a controversial selection process by the Trump Administration’s State Department-- new ideological guidelines and a commissioner whose last job was running a luxury pet food store-- I wanted to see what America had to say for itself.