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venice biennale 2015 chiharo shiota michael binkley sculpture

Red. This is the first impression when I entered the Japan pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2015. The sculpture, "The Key in the Hand", 2015 is the solo artwork by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota.

Shiota's sculpture comprises thousands of tiny, rusty antique keys that are suspended from a complex array of red strings. They dangle above, droop down and almost consume old wooden fish boats that are mounted to appear lurching in rough seas. Thousands more keys spill out on the floor from under

michael binkley sculptor sculpture venice biennale 2015 vancouver canadaMichelle and I have just returned from a wonderful vacation in Italy. We began our trip in Venice, and we took in the 2015 Venice Biennale - arguably the most prestigious fine art exhibition in the world.

Over the course of two days, we visited the Arsenale and il Giardini exhibition spaces and for the remainder of our stay, we were able to visit a few of the satellite spaces dotted around the city.

The exhibition is enormous, to put it mildly. This year, there are 136 artist's work displayed in several venues. The Arsenale venue is the former military grounds of Venice, and the lengthy main hall is eight consecutive rooms under an ancient wood beamed roof. Modern lighting has been added to this and the other buildings of