Review: BNLMTL 2014 – An Archeology of the Future

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Anton Vidokle and Pelin Tan, still from Episode 2, 2014 from 2084: A Science Fiction Show, 2012–2014. Three channel video installation. Each episode: 22 mins, total duration: 66 mins. Courtesy of the artists , produced by La Biennale de Montréal for BNL MTL 2014

BNLMTL 2014
L’avenir (looking forward)
22 October 2014 – 4 January 2015
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
and other venues

Text by Miwa Kojima

After undergoing major transformations which involved merging with the Quebec Triennial, partnering with the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) and recruiting Sylvie Fortin (former editor-in-chief of Atlanta-based art magazine Art Papers) as artistic director, the Biennale de Montreal (BNLMTL) opened its eighth edition between 22 October 2014 and 04 January 2015, under the title “L’avenir (looking forward)”. Fortin teamed up with MACM in-house curators Lesley Johnston and Mark Lancot in addition to guest curators Gregory Burke and Peggy Gale to invite over 50 individual artists and collectives from 22 different countries. Among this wider range of demography, some have critiqued the Biennale’s lack of diversity since a majority of these artists are now based in Canada, USA and Europe. Yet the numerous individual projects do confront local, national and global perspectives, to relate to current issues such as the global economy, climate change, technology, along with a myriad of other approaches to envisage the possible futures yet to come, in and out of western perspectives. M-KOS offers one last opportunity to review this Biennale for ourselves, now in its final days of exhibition.
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Slide Show: Aichi Triennale 2013 [More Photos Added!]

Kenji_Yanobe_Ultra_Sun_Child_2013
Kenji_Yanobe_Sun_Child_1
Katsuhiro_Miyamoto_Fukushima_Dai-Ichi_Sakae_Nuclear_Plant_2013_1
Katsuhiro_Miyamoto_Fukushima_Dai-Ichi_Sakae_Nuclear_Plant_2013_2
Mika_Taanila_The-Most-Electrified-Town-In-Finland_2004-2012
Fumiaki_Aono_Repair_Substitute_Combine_Penetration_Juxtaposition_Restored_Car_Picked_Up_in_HigashiMatsushima_2013
Aernout-Mik_Cardboard_Walls_2013_1
Hang_Feng_Floating_City_2011–2013_2013
Min-jeong_Seo_Sum_in_a_Point_of_Time_III_2013_2
Min-jeong_Seo_Sum_in_a_Point_of_Time_III_2013
Shinjiro_Okamoto
Song_Dong_Wisdom_of_Poor_Borrow_Right_Garden_2012_13
Thomas_Hirschhorn_Quiet_Room_With_Tears_1996
Cornelia_Paeker_Perpetual_Canon_2004_web2
Cornelia_Parker_Perpetual_Canon_2004_2
Goro_Hirata_Mind_Space_Garden_In_The_Air_2013
Goro_Hirata_Mind_Space_Garden_In_The_Air_-Interior_2013
Junya_Ishigami_Little+Gardens_2007_mixedmedia
Junya_Ishigami_Little+Gardens_2007_mixedmedia_2
Peter_Welz+William_Forsythe_whenever_on_on_on_nohow_on_airdrawing_2004
Phillippe_Ramette_Contemplation_irrationnelle_2003
Mitch-Epstein_Installation_View_AT2013_web
Mitch-EPSTEINBP-Carson-Refinery,-California_2007
Nikki+Luna_1
Nikki+Luna_2
ISAKA-Yoshio,-OHTSUBO-Miho,-OKAMOTO-Shinjiro,-KOBORI-Reiko,-SHIMIZU-Yoko,-SHIRAI-Mio,-MATSUMOTO-Akira,-YAMAGUCHI-Keisuke,-WANG-Shuye,-PYTHAGORAS3-《Earth-Attack》2013_2
ISAKA-Yoshio,-OHTSUBO-Miho,-OKAMOTO-Shinjiro,-KOBORI-Reiko,-SHIMIZU-Yoko,-SHIRAI-Mio,-MATSUMOTO-Akira,-YAMAGUCHI-Keisuke,-WANG-Shuye,-PYTHAGORAS3-《Earth-Attack》2013_1
Rias_Ark_Museum
Miwa_Yanagi_Attendant_Project_Attendant_Performance_2013
Terunobu_Fujimori_Flying_Mud_Boat_2013_wood_exterior
Alfredo_Jaar_Umashimenkana_2013_1
Alfredo_Jaar_Umashimenkana_2013_2
JunAoki_HiroshiSugito_Space_1
Boonsri_Tangtrongsin_Superbarbara_Saving_The_World_2012_
Koheu_Nawa_Foam_2013_mixedmedia_1_web
Kosuke_Ikeda_Cyclequake_2013_mixedmediainstallation
Angelica_Mesiti_Citizens_Band_2012_1
Angelica_Mesiti_Citizens_Band_2012_2
Noe_Aoki_Furisosogumono_Something_Floating_Down_2013
Kristina_Norman_After_War_2009
Mari_Katayama_Eyes_2013_mixedmediainstallation
Hisashi_Takeda_Double_Fiction_2013
Nira_PereG_Sabbath_2008
Richard_Wilson_Lane61_2013_1
Richard_Wilson_Lane61_2013_2
Guerra_de_la_Paz_Secret_Garden_2013
Bashir_Makhoul_Enter_Ghost_Exit_Ghost_2012_1
Bashir_Makhoul_Enter_Ghost_Exit_Ghost_2012_2
Leiko_Shiga_Rasen_Kaigan_Spiral_Coast_2012–2013
Studio_Velocity_Wind_Scape_2013
Noe_Aoki_Something_Floating_Down_Former_Azami_Hair_Salon_2013_Inside
Noe_Aoki_Something_Floating_Down_Former_Azami_Hair_Salon_2013_outside
Choja-Machi
Nadegata_Instant_Party_Studio_Tube_2013_Choja-Machi_outside
Nadegata_Instant_Party_Studio_Tube_2013_Choja-Machi_Inside
Open_United_Studio_Choja-Machi_Blue_Print_2013_2_web
Skart_installation_2013
Kacey_Wong_Drift_City_Aichi_Triennale2013
Kacey_Wong_Senkaku-Diaoyu_Island_Belongs_To_Birds&Fish
Yoko_Ono_Joy_of_Life_2013_Nagoya_TV__Tower_2013
Aichi_Triennale_Sign_Nayabashi

Kenji Yanobe, The Wedding of the Sun (Ultra Sun Child), 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Nobutada Omote

Kenji Yanobe, Sun Child no.2, 2011. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, Fukushima Daiichi Sakae Nuclear Plant, 2013. Cad drawing. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, Fukushima Daiichi Sakae Nuclear Plant, 2013. installation in situ. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Mika Taanila, The Most Electrified Town in Finland, 2004–2012. 3 Channel video installation. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Fumiaki Aono, Repair/Substitute/Combine/Penetration/Juxtaposition (Restored Car Picked Up in Higashi-Matsushima) 2013. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Aernout Mik, Cardboard Walls, 2013. Installation View. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Han Feng, Floating City 2011–2013, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Min-jeong Seo, Sum in a Point of Time III, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Min-jeong Seo, Sum in a Point of Time III, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Song Dong, Wisdom of the Poor: Borrow Right Garden, 2013 Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Thomas Hirschhorn, Ruheraum mit Tränen (Quiet Room with Tears), 1996. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Cornelia Parker, Perpetual Canon, 2004. Installation view Collection of Contemporary Art Fundación “la Caixa” Photo: Tetsuo Ito. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo:

Cornelia Parker, Perpetual Canon, 2004. Installation view Collection of Contemporary Art Fundación “la Caixa”. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Goro Hirata, Mind Space: Garden in the Air, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Goro Hirata, Mind Space: Garden in the Air, 2013. Inside detail. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Junya Ishigami, Little Gardens, 2007. Mixed Media. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Junya Ishigami, Little Gardens, 2007. Detail. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Peter Welz & William Forsythe, whenever on on on nohow on | airdrawing, 2004. 5 channel video installation. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Phillipe Ramette, Contemplation irrationalle, 2003. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013

Mitch Epstein, Installation View. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo:Tetsuo Ito.

Mitch Epstein, BP Carson Refinery, California, 2007. Courtesy Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York and Galerie Thomas Zander, Köln.

Nikki Luna, Flying with Briken Wings, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo ito

Nikki Luna, Flying with Briken Wings, 2013. Detail. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo ito

Yoshio Isaka, Miho Ohtsubo, Shinjiro Okamoto, Reiko Kobori, Yoko Shimizu, Mio Shirai, Akira Matsumoto, Keisuke Yamaguchi, Shuye Wang, Pythagoras3 "Earth Attack" 2013. Courtesy the artists and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Yoshio Isaka, Miho Ohtsubo, Shinjiro Okamoto, Reiko Kobori, Yoko Shimizu, Mio Shirai, Akira Matsumoto, Keisuke Yamaguchi, Shuye Wang, Pythagoras3 "Earth Attack" 2013. Courtesy the artists and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Rias Ark Museum of Art, Documentation of East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, 11 March 2013. Installation view. Courtesy Rias Ark Museum of Art and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Tetsuo Ito

Miwa Yanagi, Attendant Performance, 2013. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Terunobu Fujimori, Flying Mud Boad, 2013. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013

Alfredo Jaar, We Shall Bring Forth New Life /Umashimenkana (For Sadako Kurihara and the children of Ishinomaki), 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Sakae Fukuoka

Alfredo Jaar, We Shall Bring Forth New Life /Umashimenkana (For Sadako Kurihara and the children of Ishinomaki), 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Sakae Fukuoka

Jun Aoki & Hiroshi Sugito [SPIDERs], The Red and Blue Line. 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artists and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Boonsri Tangtrongsin, The Plant (from Superbarbara Saving the World), 2012–2013. Drawn animation film. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Kohei Nawa, Foam, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Kosuke Ikeda, Cyclequake, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Angelica Mesiti, Citizens Band, 2012. 4 channel vie installation. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Yoshihiro Kikuyama

Angelica Mesiti, Citizens Band, 2012. 4 channel vie installation. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Yoshihiro Kikuyama

Noe Aoki, Furisosogu mono/Nayabashi (Something floating down/Nayabashi), installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Kristina Norman, After-War, 2009. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Yoshihiro Kikuyama

Mari Katayama, Eyes, 2012. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Hisashi Takeda, Double Fiction, 2012. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Nira Pereg, Sabbath 2008, 2008. Video installation. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Yoshihiro Kikuyama

Richard Wilson, Lane 61, 2013. installation in situ. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Richard Wilson, Lane 61, 2013. installation in situ. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Yoshihiro Kikuyama

Guerra de la Paz, Secret Garden, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Bashir Makhoul, Enter Ghost, Exit Ghost. 2012. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Bashir Makhoul, Enter Ghost, Exit Ghost. 2012. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Lieko Shiga, Rasen Kaigan (Spiral Coast), 2012–2013. Instalation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Yoshihiro Kikuyama

Studio Velocity (Kentaro Kurihara & Miho Iwatsuki), Wind Space, 2013. Installation in situ. Courtesy the artists and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Noe Aoki, Furisosogu mono (Something Falling Down)/Former Azami Hair Salon, 2013. Installation in situ. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Noe Aoki, Furisosogu mono (Something Falling Down)/Former Azami Hair Salon, 2013. Installation in situ. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Choja-Machi

Nadegata Instant Party, Studio Tube, 2013. Installation in situ. Courtesy the artists and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Nadegata Instant Party, Studio Tube, 2013. Installation in situ (inside). Courtesy the artists and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Open United Studio, Choja-Machi Blue Print, 2013. Installation in situ. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Å kart, Installation view. 2013. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Kacey Wong, Drift City, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo : Tamotsu Kido

Kacey Wong, Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Belongs to Birds & Fish, 2013. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo : Tamotsu Kido

Yoko Ono, Joy of Life, 2013. Nagoya TV Tower. Noe Aoki, Furisosogu mono (Something Falling Down)/Former Azami Hair Salon, 2013. Installation in situ. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013.

Aichi Triennale 2013 "Awakening: Where Are We Standing? – Earth, Memory and Resurrection"

All photos by M-KOS except where mentioned.

Review: Aichi Triennale 2013 “Awakening: Where Are We Standing? – Earth, Memory and Resurrection”

Alfredo_Jaar_Umashimenkana_2013_1
Alfredo Jaar, Bringing Forth New Life / Umashimenkana (For Sadako Kurihara and the children of Ishinomaki), 2013. Black boards, video projection. Courtesy the artist and Aichi Triennale 2013. Photo: Fukuoka Sakae

Text by Miwa Kojima

The second edition of Aichi Triennale opened to the public on 10 August in the cities of Nagoya and Okazaki in Aichi prefecture, under the theme “Awakening: Where Are We Standing? – Earth, Memory and Resurrection”. 76 artists from over 25 countries are featured in various locations, spread across five different sites – Sakae; Shirakawa Park; Choja-Machi; Nayabashi (Nagoya) and Okazaki. As the title suggests, this event offers a range of reflections on the socio-political repercussions and the environmental impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. While artists in the triennale ponder on the catastrophic aftermath, Japan still faces a numbers of urgent issues – many Tsunami ravaged areas are still barely re-constructed; Tens of thousands of evacuees from the area around the Fukushima nuclear plant are still unable to go home; tons of highly contaminated radioactive water are still flowing into the Pacific from Fukushima nuclear plant, and the list goes on.
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