Venice Biennale- Spain Pavilion

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Originally uploaded by steviwonderful

Manuel Vilarino
Fragmented Paradise. 2003.
Spain Pavilion, Venice Biennale.

In the very back room in the Spain pavilion was a stark white room holding the work of only one artist. After making it through rooms full of videos, bright lights and shocking images you are greeted with the beautiful prints and bright colors of the work created by Manuel Vilarino. His images while at times have somewhat questionable subjects; they are presented to you in such a way that you are not at all shocked or uncomfortable. His medium is photography, more specifically, lifochrome on aluminum. If you have never seen this before, it creates an image that is so shockingly clear and beautiful that the subject almost pales in comparison to the print itself. Now that is not to imply that the subjects of these prints were not important, it would be very difficult to find a message or meaning behind a blank picture in a frame. The picture (series of pictures) that I liked the most of his was actually one of the more controversial in his series. This was a series of photographs entitled “Fragmented Paradise” which was fifteen individually framed images featuring fifteen little dead animals, wrapped in string or ribbon and carefully placed into a nest of what appeared to be colorful spices and maybe pigments. Each of these animals is the type that you have probably already seen dead and kicked to the side of a walking path, or some other public place. Each of these small animals are carefully wrapped up and presented in such a way that is more common for a precious gift or cherished item.
Another idea that I had when looking at these little animals, is that they are also all types that people commonly keep as pets and love and truly cherish. Often when a pet dies it is a big deal to the owner and they will often bury them and conduct a very informal burial ritual with a shoebox and some pretty fabric. I felt that these images were taking that idea just a step further and taking common burial practices for humans, such as using spices to preserve and beautify the body. You could also take this idea of recreating human burial rituals and apply it to my previous idea of bringing attention to something that we often kick out of the way an ignore. It seems almost sentimental; taking the body of a tiny animal and instead of being disgusted and ignoring it, beautify it!
If you think about the burial rituals and importance that the people of Spain place on the afterlife and the ornate ways that they morn and celebrate the life of the deceased are so much more that those that are common in the United States or even Italy. The way that he decorated these little bodies and presented them in such a beautiful way was quite reminiscent of the way that people would decorate a body and grave. This picture to me celebrates the precious nature of life.