Paper Cup In Venice

Paper cup is not just a disposable everyday staple but also an object of contemporary art culture. At the opening of Biennale art exhibition in Venice, Italy, and a plain paper cup was a key part of an art happening.

54th Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) is not a classical art exhibition displaying a wide selection of strange and sometimes bizarre art objects, films and actions. In the Biennale's main pavilion art show curators presented the only classical art pieces - three heavily guarded paintings by Tintoretto. The rest of the Biennale might not be worth guarding due to its real market value.

There are numerous country national pavilions scattered around Gardini and Arsenale parks in addition to many single or multiple artists show in historic palace along Grand Canal. Despite a high price entrance fee of 20Euro (30USD) the Biennale show is heavily sponsored by the governments of participated countries and international tycoons like Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich who spend millions to bring several dozen Russian artists to the show. His "not the biggest" yacht Luna that was parked near the Biennale park was a noticeable feature in the Venice skyline. Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, who owns a posh Art Center in Kiev sponsors art exhibition in Grand Canal, located in Palazzo Papadopoli on Grand Canal.

The exhibitions at national pavilions represent variety of liberal politics viewpoints in art form. USA pavilion put on view a military tank that is flipped upside down with an exercise treadmill sitting on its caterpillar. Inside of this spacious pavilion there was a couple of art pieces like real pipe organ on the top of the genuine ATM machine playing music at each cash withdrawal operation and a and antique looking statue inside half opened tanning bed. Other national pavilions reveal similarly bizarre objects: Russia-real size concentration camp style three-tier wooden bunk beds, Sweden - dead tree trunks growing from marble floors covered with something looking like cow poop, Serbia - numerous swastika artistic offshoots and Poland - a very controversial graphic and video installations about Jewish Renaissance Movement calling for 3 million Jews settle back to Poland presented in slogan and documentary form.

Now back to paper cups. There was a strange performance at the Biennale's opening day. About a dozen of young men and women in random order and holding plastic bottles with drinking water in front of the table full of stacked paper cups. Two table attendants were writing something on the cups that were given to people from public. After getting a marked paper cup a person goes to designated people with bottled drinking water who pours it into the cup. So here is the contemporary art happening which symbolizes the world water shortage, or solution to the some other problems or else. But usefulness of paper cup is obvious.