Title: Nato a Venezia/Born in Venice
Artist: Koen Vanmechelen
Curator: Peter Noever
Venue: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Palazzo Loredan, Campo Santo Stefano 2945
Nato a Venezia (Born in Venice) is the result of a twenty-year project by Koen Vanmechelen, begun on the island of Murano, and focusing, curiously enough, on chickens. In contrast to many of the other collateral events occurring in Venice, this project is highly scientific in conception, with the two-decade study concentrating on the cross-breeding of chickens to create an ideal hybrid type. Related to the multiculturalism of historical Venice, too, this project manages to encompass notions of diversity in both culture and biology. Its only downfall, perhaps, may be that chickens do not often have strong connotations of serious artistic and scientific investigations.
Yet rather than being a ludicrous spectacle, the work is in fact presented rather sedately. A humorous touch is added in the entrance hall with an enlarged marble chicken head infiltrating the sculpture gallery of famous Venetians, but beyond the initial comedy the exhibit proves to be quite intriguing. Over the last twenty years, Vanmechelen has been cross-breeding national and regional breeds of chicken, each with their own distinctive characteristics. While each individual breed may be narrow in its specifications, through the cross-breeding a new diversity has been launched, with each new generation stronger than the last. The Venice Biennale exhibition falls on the occasion of the 15th generation, which will be born during the Biennale.
Vanmechelen views this project as a metaphor for the evolution of human society, and while you may wish to raise your eyebrows at such pronouncements, as a scientific exploration of the diversification of a species it does provoke some interesting questions. Additional interactive research programs are running in conjunction with the ‘Cosmopolitan Chicken Project’ at the Palazzo Loredan, focusing on more human examples of diversification – therefore ensuring that some of the ideas applied through Vanmechelen’s poultry experiment can be transferred into a realm we all can relate to.
Jennifer Owen
Title: Nato a Venezia/Born in Venice
Artist: Koen Vanmechelen
Curator: Peter Noever
Venue: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Palazzo Loredan, Campo Santo Stefano 2945
Nato a Venezia (Born in Venice) is the result of a twenty-year project by Koen Vanmechelen, begun on the island of Murano, and focusing, curiously enough, on chickens. In contrast to many of the other collateral events occurring in Venice, this project is highly scientific in conception, with the two-decade study concentrating on the cross-breeding of chickens to create an ideal hybrid type. Related to the multiculturalism of historical Venice, too, this project manages to encompass notions of diversity in both culture and biology. Its only downfall, perhaps, may be that chickens do not often have strong connotations of serious artistic and scientific investigations.
Yet rather than being a ludicrous spectacle, the work is in fact presented rather sedately. A humorous touch is added in the entrance hall with an enlarged marble chicken head infiltrating the sculpture gallery of famous Venetians, but beyond the initial comedy the exhibit proves to be quite intriguing. Over the last twenty years, Vanmechelen has been cross-breeding national and regional breeds of chicken, each with their own distinctive characteristics. While each individual breed may be narrow in its specifications, through the cross-breeding a new diversity has been launched, with each new generation stronger than the last. The Venice Biennale exhibition falls on the occasion of the 15th generation, which will be born during the Biennale.
Vanmechelen views this project as a metaphor for the evolution of human society, and while you may wish to raise your eyebrows at such pronouncements, as a scientific exploration of the diversification of a species it does provoke some interesting questions. Additional interactive research programs are running in conjunction with the ‘Cosmopolitan Chicken Project’ at the Palazzo Loredan, focusing on more human examples of diversification – therefore ensuring that some of the ideas applied through Vanmechelen’s poultry experiment can be transferred into a realm we all can relate to.
Jennifer Owen
Posted 1 year ago & Filed under Koen Vanmechelen, Nato a venezia, Born in Venice, Open University of Diversity, Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Venice Biennale, LINE magazine, Line, 2 notes
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