Biennale Venice: Sun & Sea (Marina)

The catalogue of the Lithuanian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale.

Sun & Sea (Marina), a vinyl/publication designed by Åbäke, is produced on the occasion of the Lithuanian Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Responding to the performance that gives the album its name, texts in this publication focus on the shoreline as a space of projection, imagination and ecological anxiety.

Imagine a beach – you within it, or better: watching from above – the burning sun, sunscreen and bright bathing suits and sweaty palms and legs. Tired limbs sprawled lazily across a mosaic of towels. Imagine the occasional squeal of children, laughter, the sound of an ice cream van in the distance. The musical rhythm of waves on the surf, a soothing sound (on this particular beach, not elsewhere). The crinkling of plastic bags whirling in the air, their silent floating, jellyfish-like, below the waterline. The rumble of a volcano, or of an airplane, or a speedboat. Then a chorus of songs: everyday songs, songs of worry and of boredom, songs of almost nothing. And below them: the slow creaking of an exhausted Earth, a gasp.

"Beyond the Serpentine, Pietroiusti may be best known as the curator behind this year's Golden Lion-winning Lithuanian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Sun & Sea (Marina). The moving opera, created by Rugile Barzdžiukaite, Vaiva Grainyte, and Lina Lapelyte, featured beachgoers singing about daily life in the age of climate change. With nuance and without an alarmist tone, it left swathes of visitors in a moment of total vulnerability. Some left crying."