Weds, Thurs, Fri: Venice Biennale Opening Parties

The day after we arrived, as if there wasn't enough to do, we had to make ourselves look gorgeous for numerous opening parties. Our days consisted of breakfast, bit of hanging, party, lunch, more hanging, partying, even more hanging, dinner, partying, then bed...poor us. Highlights have included lunch at the British Pavilion hosted by Andrea Rose and meeting John Cale, Steve McQueen, Susan MacWilliam and many other international artists...before getting back to do a bit more tweaking to Travelling Light. There are so many parties happening simultaneously, in so many pavilions, factories and islands across the lagoon, that in order to get a taste of it all, the team decided to divide and conquer...

The Hang

We installed the London show quite carefully and in Venice hoped to recreate it as faithfully as possible by retaining the same groupings of work, set around common domestic features. Obviously the rented venue is not a neutral, white, gallery space, so we had quite a challenge.

Adapting quickly to the space with minimum fuss and funding was central to the Travelling Light 'wash & go' remit, so while we had to move a lot of furniture and pictures, many things had to stay put: the immovable, black, ornate piano; huge, dark, wooden bookcases; enormous desk and gigantic sofas. These were all considerable competition to the art works themselves. We also had to make use of the existing wall fixings and use as much white tac as possible. It was at this point that we realised how mental we were to take all this on!

Overall though, many aspects worked out well: the marble mantle piece mirrored the WW Gallery hang, the 8 metre tall book shelf was an effective backdrop for the paper sculptures and the large windows overlooking the fragrant back garden provided the perfect frame for Eleanor Moulsdale's evocative performance piece.

The Venue

Since we hadn't visited the palazzo prior to our arrival (our budget meant we couldn't afford a recce) we were a little apprehensive about the suitability of the venue. Our research satisfied us that the size and location of the apartment should be perfect, but there were also lots of unknowns. So, when we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful location (a stone's throw from Accademia, Guggenheim, Zattere), the grand entrance and the scale of the exhibition space...all that remained was to hang the show.

Wednesday 5th June: Wine, cheese and water

Getting large quantities of wine for a private view in Venice takes a little more organisation than filling your car boot at the local supermarket. Luckily we had help. On Wednesday morning the four of us got to Piazzale Roma for 7.30am to pick up 72 bottles of wine and 5 kilos of Grana Padano cheese from our sponsors Agrigelateria sull'aia (http://www.cortefenilazzo.it/)

We were met by Maria and Edoardo, who had come all the way from their Dairy Ice Cream Farm on the shores of Lake Garda to deliver to us. As well as cheese and wine from their own vineyard, the Agrigelateria is best known for its delicious, award-winning ice cream for which people travel far and wide.

With our suitcases and bags bursting with produce, we headed back to the venue on a vaporetto and then made our way over bridges and canals with a borrowed trolley.

Tuesday 2nd June: Arriving in Venice

After safely muling the work through British security, Chiara, Debra, Sophie and Lisa flew into Marco Polo and got the boat to Venice. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the team set about preparing the exhibition venue. The rest of the team: Eva, Steph, Ellie and Lucy, arrived on Thursday 4th June...

Domestic Mishaps and Thieving Fingers

Considering the vast numbers who attended, there was relatively little trashing of the space on Friday night, so thank you all for being careful around such delicate works! But, apart from burning rubber, there are a couple more incidents we forgot to mention:

1) Two Venice Viagra Bars were 'removed' from the exhibition, we have scanned the photos for bulging pants in an attempt to identify the culprit(s), but no luck...In all seriousness, this was pretty low, the artist David Rusbatch now has to make the work again for Venice, unless the bars are returned to WW - you know who you are, so please drop them through the letterbox, no questions asked.

2) On Saturday morning, the cleaner did an excellent, thorough and careful job of returning the gallery to pre-pv, pristeen status. So thorough, that she inadvertently removed part of Kate Davis' work 'Still Waiting After All These Years 1'. Thinking a careless visitor had left their cigarette to burn out on someone's work, and, with the sensitivity of an art restorer, she meticulously removed the butt and every trace of ash without disturbing the perfect pool of red nail varnish or the half lemons... so, some conceptual decisions were made, or she would have removed the lot! The mortified cleaner has been reassured that she is in good company...as Damien Hirst, Joseph Beuys and Gustav Metzger have all had similar domestic scrapes. Kate's work is now happily reinstated for your viewing pleasure!

The MOTHER of all pvs

We are both overwhelmed and exhausted by the fantastic response to Travelling Light. Floods of positive messages have been pouring in. Too bad we're too knackered to read them. The first leg is still partying on a bit, we've had visitors every day since last Thursday and can't get rid of them...in the nicest possible way. The opening party was brilliant, featuring music by Olivia Chaney, whose voice is a beautiful instrument in itself and was perfect for TL (if you missed it, here's a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yejYBW1l8AI)

Proceedings were only slighty marred by our psycho neighbour who decided to burn rubber (literally) in his back garden to get rid of our guests, as it was too noisy for him at 8.15 on a Friday night! Thank God for British weather. It pissed on his protest and we were able to enjoy ourselves without it dampening any spirits.

So far we have had press in The Independent, This is London, Notion Magazine and Hackney Citizen as well as numerous art blogs and comments online. Thanks to all the artists and everybody who came on Friday for making it one of the most memorable evenings ever!