The Berlin Biennale 2010

Star on fire
'Living in Memory' by Armando Lulaj, 2004. Courtesy of the artist/ Debatikcenter Film Production and DCFP.
(Image credit: TBC)
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The sixth Berlin Biennale, has an ominous title: 'What is waiting out there'. Addressing real world crises alongside creative ones, the 'out there' that the 43 exhibiting artists reach for includes everything from the media circus around the Joseph Fritzel trial to rebel protestors taking arms against Shell Oil in the Niger Delta.

Political video dominates, though there are some standout concessions to 3D work. For example, Twenty-four-year-old Petrit Halilaj has builders erecting a replica of his family home in Kosovo while chickens run free, in Mitte's KW gallery.

Moving away from its traditional home in the east, however, most of the exhibition has been installed throughout a series of ad hoc venues in the former anarchist haunt of Kreuzberg in the West. In a dilapidated former multi-story supermarket, look out for Henrik Oleson's supremely finickety dissembling of a laptop, with each mysterious component mounted on Perspex.

Round the corner the Danish/Vietnamese artist Danh Vo has turned his apartment into a walk-in artwork, including a bathroom whose tiles bear delicate red ink drawings of flowers that grow on the border between Tibet and China.

Pencil sketch of man holding his head

'Sich waschender Arbeiter / Worker washing himself' by Adolph Menzel, 1872-1874.

(Image credit: TBC)

Man wearing gas mask looking through magazines

'Resistance' by Andrey Kuzkin, 2009. The image was taken by Irina Steinberg and supplied courtesy of the artist/ Open Gallery.  

(Image credit: TBC)

Image of two people lying on a bed

'Die Geburt' by Anna Witt, 2003. Courtesy of Galerie Michael Wiesehöfer, Koln/ Cologne.

(Image credit: TBC)

Blurred image of hand over the camera

 'Details 2 & 3' by Avi Mograbi, 2004. Courtesy of the artist. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Male and female in a street protest

 'Les Manifs (Protest Marches)' by Bernard Bazile, 2009. Courtesy of the artist. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Abstract sketch

 'Roll me baby' by Cameron Jamie, 2009. Courtesy of the artist, Bernier/ Eliades Gallery, Athens.

(Image credit: TBC)

White grave stone cross

'View of the artist's balcony and Maria Ngo Thi Ha' by Danh Vo, 2008. The photo is taken by Thomas Cato, courtesy of the artist; Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Berlin; Galerie Daniel Buchholz, K#246;ln / Cologne/Berlin and BSI Art Collection

(Image credit: TBC)

Derelict empty interior of a building

 'Das Haus bleibt still' by Adrian Lohmüller, 2010. Courtesy of the artist, photography by Uwe Walter

(Image credit: Uwe Walter)

Image of woman wearing head scarf with arms around her body

'I can sing' by Ferhat özgür, 2008. Courtesy of the artist.

(Image credit: TBC)

Black and white photo of man and woman laughing

 'Passage Briare' by Friedl vom Gröller, 2009. Courtesy of the artist and sixpackfilm, Vienna. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Empty room with lit walls

'Too many H's and Too Many A's' by Gedi Sibony, 2009. Photograph by Gil Blank courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali Gallery, New York. 

(Image credit: Gil Blank)

Man wearing cap holding a monkey sculpture

 'SeaSideShow' by Geroge Kuchar, 2009. Courtesy of the artist and Video Data Base, Chicago.

(Image credit: TBC)

Legless elephant sculpture hanging from building

'Aufbau, Klub Europa' by Hans Schabus, 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Berlin Biennale

(Image credit: TBC)

Newspaper cutting

'Manipulating Media' by Henrik Olesen, 2002. Courtesy the artist; Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln / Cologne/Berlin

(Image credit: TBC)

Guests walking around gallery

'Installation View 6th Berlin Biennale for contemporary art'. Photograph by Uwe Walter, courtesy of the artist.  

(Image credit: Uwe Walter)

Topless man washing his face

'Washing' by Ion Grigorescu, 1976. Courtesy the artist and Andreiana Mihail Gallery, Bucharest. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Chairs in dark room with grafftti on walls

'The Girl Chewing Gum' by John Smith, 1976. Photo by Uwe Walter, courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin. 

(Image credit: Uwe Walter)

White exterior of building

'KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin', 2008. Photography by Uwe Walter, courtesy of Berlin Biennale.

(Image credit: Uwe Walter)

Multi coloured human body like sculptures

'Portraits und Wurst' by Marcus Geiger, 2006. Courtesy of the artist. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Elderly man in his workshop

'Peggy' by Margaret Salmon, 2003. Courtesy of the artist and Office Baroque Gallery, Antwerp. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Man putting on a furry costume

'Holes for eyes' by Marie Voignier and Vassilis Salphists, 2009. Courtesy of the artists. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Two penguins on ice with large ship behind

 'Passage Briare' by Marion von Osten, 2009. Courtesy of the artist and sixpackfilm, Vienna.

(Image credit: TBC)

Hairy man holding his dog in the bath

'Marlene Hairy or in my bathtub I am the Captain' by Marlene Haring, 2005. Courtesy of the artist. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Man wearing all black with his hand in back pocket

 'Untitled ' by Michael Schmidt, 1997-1999. Courtesy Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin.

(Image credit: TBC)

Hands holding circular objects

'On How Things Behave' by Michael Stevenson, 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Vilma Gold, London.  

(Image credit: TBC)

Two males in each others faces with male filming behind

'Le Telephone' by Mohamed Bourouissa, 2006. Courtesy of the artist and gallery Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris.  

(Image credit: TBC)

Girl sitting on top of wardrobe and elderly lady pulling her tights

 'Für den Schrank' by Nilbar Güres, 2010. Courtesy of the artist. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Photograph at an outdoor riot or protest

'Echo' by Nir Evron, 2008. Courtesy of the artist.  

(Image credit: TBC)

Males kneeling down on hill wearing winter clothing

'High Road' by Olga Chernysheva, 2007. Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Volker Diehl and Foxy Productions, New York.

(Image credit: TBC)

Clay sculpture of male face wearing glasses

'Déjà-vu & Paranoia' by Pleurad Xhafa and Sokol Peci, 2009. Courtesy of the artists. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Masked man holding a gun outdoors

'Episode 3' by Renzo Martens, 2008. Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam and Wilkinson Gallery, London.

(Image credit: TBC)

Topless and bottomless males jumping on the bed

'Beyond Guilt' by Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir, 2004. Courtesy of the artists. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Male walking near the water

'Aus der Serie marcher a l'envers' by Sebastian Stumpf, 2006. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig.

(Image credit: TBC)

Gallery interior

'Installation View, 6th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art' by Shannon Ebner, 2010. Courtesy of the artist; Wallspace, New York, and Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Man creating music from a cardboard box

'WePa' by Sven-Åke Johansson, 2003. Courtesy of the artist.  

(Image credit: TBC)

Two men hugging on the floor

'The Living Currency', The Living Currency Tate Modern London 2008 Front, Prinz Gholam 'Ein Ding Mehr', 2006. Photo by Sheila Burnett, courtesy of Tate Modern. 

(Image credit: Sheila Burnett)

Blurred image of public transport seating

'Echo' by Thomas Judin, 2007. Courtesy of the artist.  

(Image credit: TBC)

Text on a black background and hand holding a pen

'UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS  Article 8  Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law' by Thomas Locher, 2004. Courtesy of VG Bild Kunst, Bonn, 2010. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Wooden indoor construction

'The places I’m looking for, my dear, are utopian places, they are boring and I don’t know how to make them real' by Petrit Halilaj, 2010. Courtesy of the artist. 

(Image credit: TBC)

Two black canvases on the wall

'ARS NOVA E5305-B' by Vincent Vulsma, 2010. Photo by Nick Ash, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Cinzia Friedlaender, Berlin.

(Image credit: Nick Ash)

Bathroom shower hose and taps

'A sexy bathroom is a bathroom that makes you wanna shower until your skin flakes off' by Danh Voh, 2010. Photography by Nick Ash, courtesy of the artist; Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Berlin; Galerie Daniel Buchholz and Köln / Cologne/Berlin  

(Image credit: Nick Ash)
Skye Sherwin
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