"As the sun set, I joined the queue at the much-hyped “Pizza Pavilion” at Campo Santa Margherita, a collaborative project that responds to the contextual specificity of Venice by utilizing one of the city’s many pizzerias as a curatorial space. Completely working against traditional understanding of ‘artistic labour’, the work of the artists consists of pizza topping design – treating the pizza as a ‘cultural canvas’ while employing the local, available work-force in the touristy city. The amount of symbolism attached to the identity of a pizza is almost limitless – and as art enthusiasts from around the world gathered in the small and energetic pizzeria, difference in the perception of trans-national food was explored (indeed, pizza connotes simultaneously gourmet and ‘poor peoples’ food). I enjoyed an aspirational-veggie medley by artist Debora Delmar Corp. (courgettes, asparagus, rucola), accompanied by a canned beer and live opera-singing from Julia Mintzer, culminating in the perfect dining-experience to sum up the Biennale."
by Jeppe Ugelvig for "More Than Venice Can Handle: Off-site Events At The Biennale", Sleek Magazine, 2015
The Grand Opening of Pizza Pavilion on May 7, 2015, at Campo Santa Margherita in Venice – attended by a never-ending stream of visitors ordering Pizza until 3 o’clock in the morning – was accompanied by Pizza Parlance, a semi-entertaining, anti-formalistic and psychotic comedy performed and directed by Mezzo-Soprano Julia Mintzer, artist Charles Ogilvie and composer Toby Young. Playing an inexperienced, anxious singer, the highly professional and renowned singer performed – to the audience’s surprise – perfectly crafted pieces from her operatic repertoire. Periodically throughout the evening, the opera singer’s dysfunctional interactions with her manager/technician (Charles Ogilvie- who constantly followed her around with a recording device) would erupt, revealing the aspirational stories that had led her to Venice through dramatic scenes placed amidst the crowded opening. (fb event)
