While the tower is leaning Venice is flooding.
Bubble Magazine by Rabota reporting from Venice Biennale 58, November 2019. Bubble magazine reflects the interaction of artists with institutions and state.
Biennale 58 attempt — Venice
The video shows a not very successful attempt to get to the Biennale 58 exhibition in Venice during the worst flood in modern history. Anton wounded his legs with rubber boots so hard that he still has scars on both legs.
Uffizi evacuation — Florence, November 2019
The failed attempt to visit the Uffizi Gallery in Florence or backdoor view on the institutional events of contemporary art in the spirit of gonzo journalism.
It happened so that when we went to the Uffizi to watch Botticelli, the museum's service decided to conduct exercises, with visitors as experimental material. Having received the order to remove everyone from the museum as quickly as possible, the museum caretakers turned on the alarm and began to do everything to complete it. People were arbitrarily transferred from their condition to the mass status. They suddenly turned out to be part of the object of power manipulation.
There could be nothing strange if this happened at the train station. Still, in the museum, everything got the meaning of a performative situation in which truth is manifested as it usually happens to art's nature. Both visitors and staff felt this unpleasant truth. Often, the situation's strangeness does not correspond to any experience and, without barriers, leads to a gradual but rapid dehumanization. Five minutes later, the caretakers realized that we were recording a performance. Coming to the sense of the scene, they began to lose their temper, drag and push us right on the stairs, trying to grab the camera.
The video comes from the unsuccessful attempt to reach the 58th Venice Biennale during the severe November 2019 flood. The canonical date, 24 November 2019, is the authorially selected Biennale closing-day anchor and is not asserted as the exact filming day. The Venice Event preserves the historical occurrence context.