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2007 Summer

Venice Biennial Special: Robert Storr in conversation with Art Radio WPS1.org host Althea Viafora-Kress

The Art Radio WPS1.org barge approaches the 2005 Venice Biennale broadcast site

A rendering of the Malo design concept for the floating broadcast facility and home to Art Radio Venice Live at the 2007 Biennale. WPS1.org will broadcast from the boat from 4-10 June.

Sitting down with Art Radio WPS1 host Althea Viafora-Kress at the 2005 Venice Biennial, Robert Storr talks about his role in the 2005 international symposium Where Art Worlds Meet: Multiple Modernities and The Global Salon, and his goals and aspirations as Director of the 52nd Venice Biennial.

Althea Viafora-Kress: In winter 2005, the Biennial will promote an in­ternational symposium on contemporary art, which you will be organizing as direc­tor of the upcoming edition. Can you tell us about the symposium?

Robert Storr: The Biennial thought it was time to look back over its history and since it’s the first of all biennials, formed in 1895, to consider its future in light of what it has done. It also wanted to consider its current role in this field of many, many institutions like the trienni­als and Documentas. So we can say that the mother of all biennials will be inviting people involved in this kind of exhibition practice to sit down and think about what it’s created.

AVK: Is one of the goals to present future ideas that haven’t been presented in the past? Or is it continuing a tradition which is the Biennial itself?

RS: The Biennial is a work in prog­ress, always has been. There’s no recipe for it. It has gone through many permu­tations and will undoubtedly go through more. The idea for this symposium is that if one thinks out loud in the company of well informed people with different ex­pectations and expertise doing such ex­hibitions, we will have a chance to make some sense out of it.

AVK: How are you going to bring to­gether people that think differently?

RS: I’m interested in contradictions. There’s a tendency to resolve contradic­tions rhetorically and those that have different views often try to stifle their doubts in the presence of others. I like a good fight, a good family argument is better. If you approach it with a certain humility and good deal of humor, things can loosen up and everybody admits that they’ve actually thought what their ad­versaries have said but how they weigh them is different and then you can get to a different phase of the conversation.

AVK: Your work seem to take on a personality. It’s not about you, it’s about ideas. How will you resolve this in terms of the 2007 Biennial?

RS: I don’t like being in fixed posi­tions. There’s a wonderful, probably apocryphal, remark of Franz Klein: “To be right is a perfectly wonderful statement that nobody is interested in.” I’m not in­terested in being right. I’m interested in getting out as much content, ideas, and possibilities as I can and letting other people sort them out and use them. I’ll frame the Biennial in my own way but it’s not meant to be imposed on others.