Biennale Internazionale dell'arte Contemporanea?

Yesterday, I received an email inviting me to participate in the "Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea" to be held in Florence, Italy in December of 2005. They(?) "selected" me based entirely upon my website. It appears to be a total scam; from the web I have gathered that you pay around $2,000 to be included, you have to use their shipping company, etc… Then again, who is to say what is a scam and what is not in the entirely subjective world of art? Maybe it's the world's biggest rent-a-show? What's the difference?

There were only a couple of postings on Rhizome, most notably the one below from a couple of years ago… I am interested to find out who else was selected, and if anyone has any feedback.

Jason Van Anden
www.smileproject.com

Heather James wrote:

>
> has anyone ever heard of this exhibition? a friend of mine asks:
>
> "I received an invitation today to participate in the Biennale
> Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea to be held in Florence at the
> end of
> 2003, on the basis of paintings on my website. I had not heard of
> this
> Exhibition before, and as it is expensive to register, I would be
> grateful
> if you can tell me : Is it a recognized reputable Organization ? "
>
> any insight into Biennale Internazionale dell'arte Contemporanea
> appreciated!
>
> ~h
>

don't pay to play! sounds like total BS to me – never heard of it.

& don't forget, it should work like this:

them pay you

not

you pay them


On Aug 12, 2004, at 9:21 AM, Jason Van Anden wrote:

> Yesterday, I received an email inviting me to participate in the
> "Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea" to be held in
> Florence, Italy in December of 2005. They(?) "selected" me based
> entirely upon my website. It appears to be a total scam; from the web
> I have gathered that you pay around $2,000 to be included, you have to
> use their shipping company, etc… Then again, who is to say what is
> a scam and what is not in the entirely subjective world of art? Maybe
> it's the world's biggest rent-a-show? What's the difference?
>
> There were only a couple of postings on Rhizome, most notably the one
> below from a couple of years ago… I am interested to find out who
> else was selected, and if anyone has any feedback.
>
> Jason Van Anden
> www.smileproject.com
>
> Heather James wrote:
>
>>
>> has anyone ever heard of this exhibition? a friend of mine asks:
>>
>> "I received an invitation today to participate in the Biennale
>> Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea to be held in Florence at the
>> end of
>> 2003, on the basis of paintings on my website. I had not heard of
>> this
>> Exhibition before, and as it is expensive to register, I would be
>> grateful
>> if you can tell me : Is it a recognized reputable Organization ? "
>>
>> any insight into Biennale Internazionale dell'arte Contemporanea
>> appreciated!
>>
>> ~h
>>

===
<twhid>http://www.mteww.com</twhid>
===

Thanks for the very wise advice t.whid.

I found this link to an old discussion about this "opportunity", in case anyone else is curious.: http://home.gci.net/~donaldricker/frnznytf.htm

Jason Van Anden
www.smileproject.com )


t.whid wrote:

> don't pay to play! sounds like total BS to me – never heard of it.
> & don't forget, it should work like this:

> them pay you
> not you pay them

> ===
> <twhid>http://www.mteww.com</twhid>
> ===
>
>

>I found this link to an old discussion about this "opportunity", in
>case anyone else is curious.:
>http://home.gci.net/~donaldricker/frnznytf.htm


it's hard to tell reading this, despite their pull quote at the top,
most of the entries say there's no scam, just ends up really
expensive. maybe i'm misunderstanding you though. my girlfriend
also just got one of those invite from the Florence Biennial. The
email looked fishy, but sounds like they are just trying to put
together a show cheaply. (putting the costs on the artists, huge for
Americans).


idealistically, this represents yet another move toward art being
merely a representation of what a bunch of rich kids do. (which is
how many see ART already, but add the word "pretentious") It's
already like that but gets more-so every day.


To be in the FloBi requires a lot of disposable cash. But if you
have it, and want to spend the money on a trip to Florence in the
winter, is there any reason not to?

–

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLASMA STUDII
art non-profit
stages * galleries * the web
New York, USA

(on-line press kit)
http://plasmastudii.org

—– Original Message —–
From: "Jason Van Anden" <[email protected]>
To: "Agricola de Cologne" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: RHIZOME_RAW: Re: Biennale Internazionale dell'arte
Contemporanea?


> Hi,
>
> Thank you for the advice.
> Why didn't you post this on RAW?
>
> J
>
> ———- Original Message ———————————-
> From: "Agricola de Cologne" <[email protected]>
> Reply-To: "Agricola de Cologne" <[email protected]>
> Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 15:52:00 +0200
>
> >Hello,
> >
> >Each year a lot of artists receive such invitations. Unfortunately only a
> >few go to public like you.
> >
> >I am myself a media artist, and I received three years ago such an
> >invitation.
> >they wanted me to pay for piece of net based art 2000 Euro.
> >
> >This Biennale is no serious event, it is a market place which takes place
> >every two years, therefore "Biennial", a kind of bazaar where you have to
> >hire a stand.
> >Besides the hire fee, you have to pay for everything, transport, travel,
> >accomodation etc
> >and the result will be nothing, as everybody is laughing about this
event,
> >and afterwards you will be much poorer than before.
> >
> >Be very careful, not artistic quality or a curatorial concept counts-
there
> >are no curators, but only whether you are willing to pay. Everybody who
is
> >willing can present his stuff. It maybe nice for some rich amateurs, who
> >have otherwise no chances, and a Biennale in the CV is looking also very
> >well.
> >
> >Of course, it can be quite nice to spend some holidays in Florence, but I
> >would propose you the spare the money and take it for a longer stay in
this
> >beautiful city, or stay at home and invest the money into a professional
> >project like a really professional portofolio or something similiar.
> >
> >Again, be very careful.
> >Good luck and best,
> >
> >Wilfried Agricola de Cologne
> >***********************
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >—– Original Message —–
> >From: "Jason Van Anden" <[email protected]>
> >To: <[email protected]>
> >Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 3:21 PM
> >Subject: RHIZOME_RAW: Re: Biennale Internazionale dell'arte
Contemporanea?
> >
> >
> >> Yesterday, I received an email inviting me to participate in the
"Biennale
> >Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea" to be held in Florence, Italy in
> >December of 2005. They(?) "selected" me based entirely upon my website.
It
> >appears to be a total scam; from the web I have gathered that you pay
around
> >$2,000 to be included, you have to use their shipping company, etc…
Then
> >again, who is to say what is a scam and what is not in the entirely
> >subjective world of art? Maybe it's the world's biggest rent-a-show?
> >What's the difference?
> >>
> >> There were only a couple of postings on Rhizome, most notably the one
> >below from a couple of years ago… I am interested to find out who else
> >was selected, and if anyone has any feedback.
> >>
> >> Jason Van Anden
> >> www.smileproject.com
> >>
> >> Heather James wrote:
> >>
> >> >
> >> > has anyone ever heard of this exhibition? a friend of mine asks:
> >> >
> >> > "I received an invitation today to participate in the Biennale
> >> > Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea to be held in Florence at the
> >> > end of
> >> > 2003, on the basis of paintings on my website. I had not heard of
> >> > this
> >> > Exhibition before, and as it is expensive to register, I would be
> >> > grateful
> >> > if you can tell me : Is it a recognized reputable Organization ? "
> >> >
> >> > any insight into Biennale Internazionale dell'arte Contemporanea
> >> > appreciated!
> >> >
> >> > ~h
> >> >
> >> +
> >> -> post: [email protected]
> >> -> questions: [email protected]
> >> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> >> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> >> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> >> +
> >> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> >> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
> >
> >
>

I am glad Wilfried posted the last bit online.

Wilfried Agricola de Cologne wrote:
> >Each year a lot of artists receive such invitations. Unfortunately only a
> >few go to public like you.

Why do you figure only a few "go public"?

Jason Van Anden
www.smileproject.com )

I had the distinguished Honor to be selected last year, my good man, and yes Virginia this is a SCAM!
Pay to Play… all the way!

I like how they put the word Biennale in the title and BANG! instant legitimacy. ( or so they think) I think they prey on the fact that the arts are so ignored in the US. I feel bad for anyone who might actually send money to them, thinking it will help their career.

In the 80's a filmmaker and I collaborated in a group called SCAM, it stood for Southern Colorado Alternative Media. we never quite got the nerve to pull something like this off, but we did do some swell art pranks.

Now I bet they do have an art exhibit, but I'm almost certain that it will turn out only to be an expensive vacation that you most likely can't afford.

It's the art version of those e-mails that start:
Hello my friend, I am the former Ambassador of kingdom of Svengalli…

AE04
atomicelroy.com
CHAOS Studios

At 11:21 PM 12/08/2004, you wrote:
>Yesterday, I received an email inviting me to participate in the "Biennale
>Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea" to be held in Florence, Italy in
>December of 2005. They(?) "selected" me based entirely upon my
>website. It appears to be a total scam; from the web I have gathered that
>you pay around $2,000 to be included, you have to use their shipping
>company, etc… Then again, who is to say what is a scam and what is not
>in the entirely subjective world of art? Maybe it's the world's biggest
>rent-a-show? What's the difference?


..got an invite from this mob about 2/3 years ago? i pegged it as a scam,
but still not totally sure - if yes, they b v.clever in their packaging of
it [wait till u receive the marketing package via snail mail!]

didn't bother with it either, obviously.

chunks,
][mez][





.living_iN_avat.r(esidency)ix 101.1_
-
-[sharing hug corpses + detriments bones]
-

http://www.hotkey.net.au/~netwurker
http://www.livejournal.com/users/netwurker/

> Why do you figure only a few "go public"?

There are certainly a couple of different reasons.

As far as I know, artists receive this invitation via snail mail in form of
a portofolio.
Most of all contacted artists are working with analogue media as painting
etc
Whether analogue or not,
I could imagine,
an artist may feel honoured by receiving a personal invitation,
and he/she may feel they deserve such an invitation
they are happy that people finally recognize their artistic quality, or
whatever.
And this feeling of honour will also not vansih completely
when the artist recognizes the financial consequences.
The fact that they receive a personal invitation will probably not let get
them the idea
they are among of thousands of other artists collegues who are in the same
situation.
Many of them will not see a way how to go public.

Even if some of them know a way to go public,
some might even feel ashamed to ask any question.

But, I think many, especially the less experienced artists (who most have
also a less developed self-confidence) are afraid of the eventually negative
consequences of going public.
It is an unwritten rule, that an artist has to keep his/her mouth shut
and such events are speculating properly that artists behave like that.

On the other hand, many artists receive many invitations like that one from
Florence and take for granted,
that the art scene works like that
that an artist has always to pay the requested price.
Then, there is no reason to go public.

Others may even see such events as the only chance to present their work to
an audience, at all.
they would also not see any reason to go public.

Other artists who have their individual professional progression
will delete such invitatons immeditely, because they give no relevance to
them.

However, I would propose all those artist who take their invitation more
serious,
to write a letter to the organisation in Florence asking a lot of questions,
like I did three years ago,
even if I did not receive an answer, but I received also no further
invitation.

But, I would like to point to some further aspects, which must not be
forgotten—>

As an event, Florence Biennale does not represent anything extraordinary
unusual in the art scene as such,
and it is further an event typical for Italy and its specific cultural
system.

Each European country has a specific cultural system.
In Italy, generally the artist has to care for him/herself,
there is no general public(state based) funding system for individual
artists,
if there is any funding at all then only by some privat foundations.
In Italy, an artist has principally to pay for any exhibition, besides in
some major public museums or galleries, where, however, only some priveleged
ones have access to, of course.
So, actually from an Italian point of view,
paying, and paying even a lot of money for being exhibited is most normal.
In so far, Florence Biennale is a product of this system
and the organisers do not see anything wrong in their doing.

Florence Biennale represents further a perfect instrument for the City
Council
of Florence
(although it is not official organiser or holder of the Biennial,
however it is an essential part of the Biennial by making space of the
municipality
available)
to extend the touristic infrastructure
without investing much money and taking any risk.

Florence is principally not a place for contemporary art,
it has never been, and the Florence Biennial does also
to change this situation, in contrary.
The existing structures of a romantic medieval and Renaissance town
are only further developed by adding a new tourist attraction, by organising
a
kind of artists fair, an advanced form of the already existing bazaar of
street artists which is now placed from the narrow streets into the more
exclusive context of a well known historical
and romantic pallazzo.

It is the attempt to bring a more contemporary component into the historical
profile of the city.
So, the Biennial event is not made for people interested in contemporary
art and does therefore also not attract the artscene to come to Florence,
but for the tourist of the historical city (this is not bad, at
all of course)
which feel stimulated by this new bazaar to buy some souvenirs,
and why not one of the exhibited works.
But this is also actually the only chance, the Biennial has to offer to an
participating artist.

The City of Florence might even feel itself as a strong supporter of
contemporary art
by offering the artists this chance.

best,

AdC

—– Original Message —–
From: "Jason Van Anden" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 10:22 PM
Subject: RHIZOME_RAW: Re: Biennale Internazionale dell'arte Contemporanea?


> I am glad Wilfried posted the last bit online.
>
> Wilfried Agricola de Cologne wrote:
> > >Each year a lot of artists receive such invitations. Unfortunately only
a
> > >few go to public like you.
>
> Why do you figure only a few "go public"?
>
> Jason Van Anden
> www.smileproject.com )
> +
> -> post: [email protected]
> -> questions: [email protected]
> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> +
> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php

Heya,

Fascinating reading.

Do any of you know of similar "equivocal" art events like this one?
Also, have any of you participated in paid awards like The Webbys?
What's your take on that?

/ l i z a

On Friday, Aug 13, 2004, at 09:28 America/New_York, Agricola de Cologne
wrote:

>> Why do you figure only a few "go public"?
>
> There are certainly a couple of different reasons.

I posted about this a while ago when someone posted a call for entries
that cost 30 bucks to enter.

In the film and graphic design industries it's common to pay fees to
enter festivals and contests. I would put the webbies in this category.

But in these industries participation in the most respected festivals
and competitions require this fee. This means you don't really have a
choice but inclusion in these sorts of festivals and contests also
guarantees industry-wide exposure so your 30 bucks is well-spent.

Inclusion in these little penny-ante art exhibitions with their 25 buck
fees guarantees you nothing. Paying 1000s of dollars to go to this
bogus biennial in Florence guarantees you even less.

On Aug 13, 2004, at 9:53 AM, liza sabater wrote:

> Heya,
>
> Fascinating reading.
>
> Do any of you know of similar "equivocal" art events like this one?
> Also, have any of you participated in paid awards like The Webbys?
> What's your take on that?
>
> / l i z a
>
> On Friday, Aug 13, 2004, at 09:28 America/New_York, Agricola de
> Cologne wrote:
>
>>> Why do you figure only a few "go public"?
>>
>> There are certainly a couple of different reasons.
>

===
<twhid>http://www.mteww.com</twhid>
===

"inclusion in these sorts of festivals and contests also
guarantees industry-wide exposure so your 30 bucks is well-spent."


I guess that depends on which festival it is. There are bogus film fests
just the same. Just the same a friend from Chicago entered the Agora Gallery
contest from the back of Art News or something. Paid like $1000 or
something. I told her she was crazy to do so. She ended up selling all of
her paintings and got 3 shows out of it and still has a privite dealer that
she works with uptown.

You never know.

On another note I know this show that made $30,000 on submission fees for
one show. That money keeps the non-profit running.

My question here is: Has anyone here on the list actually gone to this
Biennale?


On 8/13/04 10:34 AM, "t.whid" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I posted about this a while ago when someone posted a call for entries
> that cost 30 bucks to enter.
>
> In the film and graphic design industries it's common to pay fees to
> enter festivals and contests. I would put the webbies in this category.
>
> But in these industries participation in the most respected festivals
> and competitions require this fee. This means you don't really have a
> choice but inclusion in these sorts of festivals and contests also
> guarantees industry-wide exposure so your 30 bucks is well-spent.
>
> Inclusion in these little penny-ante art exhibitions with their 25 buck
> fees guarantees you nothing. Paying 1000s of dollars to go to this
> bogus biennial in Florence guarantees you even less.
>
> On Aug 13, 2004, at 9:53 AM, liza sabater wrote:
>
>> Heya,
>>
>> Fascinating reading.
>>
>> Do any of you know of similar "equivocal" art events like this one?
>> Also, have any of you participated in paid awards like The Webbys?
>> What's your take on that?
>>
>> / l i z a
>>
>> On Friday, Aug 13, 2004, at 09:28 America/New_York, Agricola de
>> Cologne wrote:
>>
>>>> Why do you figure only a few "go public"?
>>>
>>> There are certainly a couple of different reasons.
>>
>
> ===
> <twhid>http://www.mteww.com</twhid>
> ===
>
>
> +
> -> post: [email protected]
> -> questions: [email protected]
> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> +
> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>

>>Each European country has a specific cultural system.
>>In Italy, generally the artist has to care for him/herself,
>>there is no general public(state based) funding system for individual
>>artists,
>>if there is any funding at all then only by some privat foundations.
>>In Italy, an artist has principally to pay for any exhibition, besides in
>>some major public museums or galleries, where, however, only some priveleged
>>ones have access to, of course.
>>So, actually from an Italian point of view,
>>paying, and paying even a lot of money for being exhibited is most normal.
>>In so far, Florence Biennale is a product of this system
>>and the organisers do not see anything wrong in their doing.
>>
>>Florence Biennale represents further a perfect instrument for the City
>>Council
>>of Florence
>>(although it is not official organiser or holder of the Biennial,
>>however it is an essential part of the Biennial by making space of the
>>municipality
>>available)
>>to extend the touristic infrastructure
>>without investing much money and taking any risk.
>>
>>Florence is principally not a place for contemporary art,
>>it has never been, and the Florence Biennial does also
>>to change this situation, in contrary.
>>The existing structures of a romantic medieval and Renaissance town
>>are only further developed by adding a new tourist attraction, by organising
>>a
>>kind of artists fair, an advanced form of the already existing bazaar of
>>street artists which is now placed from the narrow streets into the more
>>exclusive context of a well known historical
>>and romantic pallazzo.

>Fascinating reading.
>
>Do any of you know of similar "equivocal" art events like this one?
>Also, have any of you participated in paid awards like The Webbys?
>What's your take on that?


totally agree with liza. AdC, this is incredibly interesting.


There WAS a show out of Australia (wish i could remember the name)
like the FloBi about 4 years ago, who also wanted the equivalent of
$2000+ entry fee. I asked the guy if it was a typo or something.
was surprised by his reply, that he felt it was a perfectly ordinary
amount to ask and an artist should expect to pay this kind of money
regularly or not be interested in being an artist.

however, reading this, his attitude makes a lot more sense.


it's totally common that a 30 dollar entry fee pays for the jury or
curator. but more and you have to be wary if it's worth it. many
are scams, and unusual requirements (like having to use their courier
or stay at their hotel) is usually a sign of a scam.

i've also heard, paying an additional fee to enter more slides
actually reduces your chances. gives the jury/curator more to sort
through. but the galleries keep doing it since it means extra money.
somebody pockets it and sends you a rejection. probably not always
the case, and there's no way to prove it. but something to consider
before bombarding them with your opus of genius masterpieces.

judson
–

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLASMA STUDII
art non-profit
stages * galleries * the web
New York, USA

(on-line press kit)
http://plasmastudii.org

Isn't it supposed to work like this…

I get an e-mail from a group of artists in Gijon Spain, who say they saw my video on postvideoart.com, The gentleman asks if I would like to exhibit at his festival. I say yes, I send him a DVD. We both get to use the INTERNATIONAL ARTIST thing in PR, My work gets a wider audience, He gets content for his festival.
No money exhanged.

OR
I submitt work to a call for entires, send a check for 5 ( do the conversion), and if my work is judged good enough, and fits the theme of the show, I get my work accepted and shown in the UK. Again a win/win for me and the exhibitor I'm out 8 bucks, no big deal.

OR
Barbara Gladstone's assistant calls me up, say they think I'm the next Matthew Barney, :-), They have been chosen to submit a proposal to the Venice Biennale, I submit the proposal to fill a gallery full of sand with 50 video monitors burried in it, all playing re-runs of I Love Lucy, she sends me a check for $1,000,000, and a plane ticket to Venice.

well of course two of the above stories are true, one isn't… guess which one.

AE04
atomicelroy.com