The Venice Biennale officially opened to the public this past weekend and with the hard part done, Will is now “conducting European research”. Hany’s exhibition has been very well received, even earning a bit of fashion cred with his gold lamé information tote being dubbed the “it” bag of the Biennale by the NYTimes.

For Hany Armanious, this is not his first Biennale. In his career, Hany’s work has been shown at the 9th Biennale of Sydney (1992), the Venice Biennale (1993), the Johannesburg Biennale (1995) and the Busan Biennale in Korea (2006) among dozens of other art exhibits both solo and group. Today, Hany’s work is held in private collections in Europe, USA and Australia, and public collections in Australia, New Zealand, Greece and the USA.

It’s his love of turning the everyday into works of art that Hany’s fans admire most. And his exhibition at this year’s Venice Biennale, entitled ‘The Golden Thread,’ will not disappoint. The 11 pieces that Hany so carefully created (and Will along with the Italian installers so carefully prepared) are rooted in the process of casting (something we’re very familiar with at the Big Kahuna workshop). Hany has taken typically unappreciated, often discarded items and created castings of them in deliberately non-precious materials such as polyurethane resin (something else we’re very familiar with at the Big Kahuna workshop).

More than simply turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, Hany also contradicts the traditional intention of casting by using the process not to create multiple copies, but one unique object (a man after our own imagineering heart!) To take the significance of the casting to another level, the original object and the mould are often destroyed making the piece an artifact.

Anne Ellegood, Hany’s curator, described him extremely well when she said, “Armanious’ invocation of ancient forms and cultures, his embrace of a nearly alchemical transformation of one material into another, and his interest in incorporating the processes of making and displaying works of art into the sculptures themselves, underscore his desire to locate the mysterious within the mundane. By arguing that objects in our everyday life – leaf-blowers, vases, teapots, baskets, irons, window blinds, or even a cardboard Burger King crown – can carry as much visual pleasure, as much potential for beauty, as those things designed or deemed to be in the domain of aesthetics, his work is an acknowledgement that there is more to this world than meets the eye.”

Hany is undoubtably a prolific contemporary artist. Having been the specialist fabricator for Hany here in Sydney with Big Kahuna Imagineering, and then to be tapped as his service provider of choice on site, our managing director Will has had an exacting role to play and it has been an honour.

In 2009, the Australian Pavilion attracted almost 400,000 visitors. The Biennale runs from 4 June to 27 November 2011. Click here to check out the Biennale website.

Other than loving the lack of cars and abundant Venetian Spritzes, Big Kahuna Imagineering’s Managing Director Will Colhoun is doing his country proud in preparation for the Venice Biennale. As the sole Australian installer among Hany Armanious’ Venetian entourage, Will says the Australian Padilione (that’s “Pavilion” for us English speakers) is looking great thanks to the talented Mr. Luca, who succeeded in inadvertently giving the team an early quitting time the other day after “slathering on about four litres of the most noxious, toxic evil two pack urethane paint containing at least 300% Toluene in addition to the isocyanate cocktail that no one could smell!”  But what the hey? They’re expecting over 300,000 art-lovers to tread those steps in the next few months so the Pavilion has to look schmick.

Hany’s über-regarded curator, Anne Ellegood, arrived last week from LA to give special attention to the artworks’ placements around the two-tier pavilion.  Will reports that he has helped shift Hany’s pieces about 40 times so far, but “we’re very close now as the lighting is being directed soon, and this ‘should’ cement the arrangement.”

“What’s really funny,” Will says, “is that the pieces we strived to realise cleanly back at BKI, only to have Hany come along and dust-up and get all filthy (forwarding the desired effect, of course) are once again being treated with kid gloves (well, white cotton conservator’s ones anyway!)”

When Will isn’t battling in the continuous struggle for Australia to gain worldwide recognition as a power force of modern art, he’s teaching Venetians about planking. He’s even thinking about forming the “Safety Conscious Fun Planking Association” in the hope of keeping this credible art form from being obliterated by irresponsible plankers.

Here’s a few snapshots of some very safe planking by ours truly…

Safe

(Note: Boat is not moving!!! It was stationary and tied up to a floating extension of a café by a canal).  

Safer

Safest

More to come!

Hello, Venice. Let’s Biennale.

Managing Director of Big Kahuna Imagineering, Will Colhoun, has touched down in the Floating City as a member of the Australian contingency to assist Hany Armanious with his exhibition at the 2011 Venice Biennale. Will’s official title: Specialist Contract Fabricator & Installation Installer (aka Hany’s dutiful slave to the curator).

Whilst in Venice, Will has the honour of facilitating the assembly and placement/installation of Hany’s 10-11 pieces being exhibited at this historical, world-renowned international art exhibition.

The Venice Biennale, or ‘La Biennale di Venezia, is considered the most important and prestigious event in the international contemporary arts world. First held in 1895, other countries only began installing national pavilions in 1907 to showcase their homegrown talent. Italian-born Australian artist Mr Dattilo-Rubbo attended the event in 1907 and discussed the idea of Australian participation with the Biennale authorities but Australia did not exhibit at the Venice Biennale until 1954.

The Australian Pavilion is nestled within the Biennale Gardens (Giardini di Castello) along with 28 other pavilions. First designed by Australian architect Philip Cox, the Australian Pavilion opened in 1988 and was gifted to the Commonwealth Government.

After World War I, the Biennale showed increasing interest in innovative traditions in modern art. Today, the Venice Biennale is one of the most important critical forums for contemporary visual art with thousands of the world’s leading artists, curators, collectors, gallery directors and critics attending, networking, discovering and discussing the latest in the contemporary art world. Some call it, the ‘Olympics of the visual arts world’.

This year, Sydney-based artist Hany Armanious will be solely representing Australia at the 54th Venice Biennale with his exhibition, The Golden Thread. And our master and commander will be doing his patriotic duty to the arts by serving as Hany’s service provider of choice.

In the weeks leading up to the opening of the exhibition on 4 June, Will’s duties will be to prepare Hany’s sculptures which means unpacking the pieces, remedying any minor freight damage, preparing their pavilion positions, administering any engineering requirements and assisting with any final dressing touches.

Keep an eye out on BKI’s BIG BLOG for Will’s behind-the-scenes account of what goes into preparing Australia’s sole exhibition at one of the world’s biggest art exhibitions.

Stay tuned….