Thursday 7th June – I Giardini: at the Canadian Pavilion – David Altmejd – The Index. The commission created by David Altmejd for the Biennale consists of two works, both toying with the Pavilion’s notable peculiarities of an aviary, imagining it as a shelter where birds can safely nest and feed. The Index chimes with this particular resonance, highlighting the architectural philosophy of planting a building organically in its natural settings; that of the Giardini Pubblici. The work is made up of various structures of wood steel and mirror glass, interconnected and assembled. They are inhabited by flocks of stuffed birds and squirrels, fabricated from materials at hand and fragmented bodies – half-human, half-avian – the whole richly ornamented with tree sections and quartz crystals. The Giant 2 is an imposing 5.5 meter sculpture, attended by all manner of stuffed and sculpted birds.