Classic and Deluxe is a video of 35mm photographs taken in Venice, Italy between 25th and 28th May, 2022, whilst with the Coventry Biennial team to visit La Biennale di Venezia The Milk of Dreams.

Artworks and soundscapes featured in the video include:

Ilit Azoulay – Queendom (Israel)

Wine glass music street musician

Helen Maurer at Danielle Arnaud

Classical music players at Caffè Florian

Precious Okoyomon – To See the Earth before the End of the World at Arsenale

Sophia Al-Maria – Tiger Strike Red at the Pavilion of Applied Arts Special Project at Arsenal

Ignasi Aballí – CORRECCIÓN (Spain)

Orchidelirium: An Appetite for Abundance (Estonia)

I fell into a kind of two-dimensional surface-love with Venice for its three-dimensional depth of landscape. It seemed to represent an antithesis to some of what I find uncomfortable about Coventry. In Venice, there are no cars, whilst Coventry has alarming amounts of them. In Venice, gorgeous historical architecture is left to stand, in Coventry sound characterful buildings are pulled down and replaced with that which is generic, soulless. Venice retains its heart, celebrates its distinctive beauty.