Yoko Ono is not the only historically significant Japanese artist included in biennale director Daniel Birnbaum's exhibition, "Making Worlds." In the newly renamed Palazzo delle Espozioni in the Giardini, Birnbaum has dedicated a room to works by members of the post World War II avant-garde Gutai Art Association founded in 1954 in Ashiya City in western Japan.

Predecessors to Yoko Ono, the Gutai group sought to challenge then-dominant notions of art through the use of performative actions, ephemeral materials and unconventional exhibition sites. Many of the works in Venice are recreations of pieces that debuted at an open-air exhibition Gutai organized in Ashiya Park in 1955 and 1956 and were later exhibited in Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum in 1965.

Entering the room, one is immediately struck by the lyrical effect of light filtering through the colored liquid that fills Sadamasa Motonaga's tubes of transparent vinyl suspended from the ceiling, originally hung in the trees of Ashiya Park. Saburo Murakami's "Hako" ("Box") invites visitors to place their ears to a waist-high plywood box and listen until they hear the sound of a clock that is said to be contained inside. The work turns into an ironic endurance spectacle, as no clock is audible; visitors must decide for themselves how long to listen.

Perhaps the most recognized individual of the 30-odd-member group, Atsuko Tanaka is represented by a ceiling-high sheet of hot pink taurpaulin attached to one of the gallery walls. The sheet ripples subtly under the influence of an electric fan placed on the floor beside it.

Biennale director Birnbaum discussed his inclusion of Gutai in his exhibition with The Japan Times.

"I'm not a Gutai expert but I've always been very fascinated by them, have read their catalogs and often heard from artists how influential they are," he said. "Allan Kaprow was inspired by Gutai, so were John Cage, Yves Klein. Gutai were a source of inspiration also when it comes to what an exhibition can be. They did them on rooftops, in an airplane and with children.

"I think they're just interesting . . . so my ambition was to create a reconstruction of their exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum."

Despite the recognition for Ono and Gutai, young Japanese artists are notably absent from Birnbaum's exhibition. The Gutai room, though, has been cited in numerous reviews and blogs as one of the biennale's most compelling displays.