For Wales at Venice 2009, John Cale will produce a new audio-visual work made in Wales, in collaboration with artists, filmmakers and poets. The work has at its heart Cale’s own personal relationship with the Welsh language and the issues surrounding communication. The work will fill the majestic Capannone space at the Ex-Birreria, the old brewery building on the island of Giudecca and home to Wales’ three previous presentations at the Biennale.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest collaborators and producers, Cale has worked and performed with, among others, The Stooges, Terry Riley, Brian Eno, Happy Mondays, Modern Lovers and Patti Smith. Cale more recently has worked with Welsh bands, Manic Street Preachers and Super Furry Animals, with filmmaker Marc Evans on Beautiful Mistake (2000) and Dal:Yma/ Nawr (2003), and on numerous international films.

Cale’s own writing and music has always resonated with the bleakness and solemnity of the Welsh landscape, as well as the rich tradition of Welsh language strict metre poetry. Himself a published poet, he acknowledges the influence of Dylan Thomas in the troubled souls of his protagonists. 

Cale is known for his exploration of the limits of sound, and cites John Cage as a significant influence upon his work. In early sensorial multimedia experiments and performances with the Theatre of Eternal Music, Cale blurred the boundaries of music, film, performance and visual art. He anticipated what has come to be accepted as sound art, and the DJ-centric sublimation of the nightclub experience, while fashioning a language of his own.