Background by
 
I like it show next
Creative use of space
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Projects
  • People
  • Magazine
  • About
  • Participate
 

Fair Play – Art Basel

From: Milan, Italy to Basel, Switzerland
 
Fair Play – Art Basel
 
Share this video
 

Agents Report:

Day 1, Saturday. We squeeze between Nathalie Djurberg's videos and John Bock's performances' finds to talk with the art dealer Gio Marconi from Milan. He asks us to come back "later". He apologize, but business come first. Business in progess. This is the mood between Art Basel's stands: the fair is mostly an engine of financial interests. The same old story about money. A lot of collectors and curators have already left the town, most of the PR job is done, but it's not yet over. Everything's on sale, everyone measures seize, weight, faculty of surprising and they seem to care a lot about labels. High quotations for artists who, besides having that damn uniqueness factor, know how entertain people: artists from American galleries win. Jeff Koons above all, as suggested by a Japanese collector coming from Tokyo. That's why at Gagosian, which represents him with Hirst, they don't need to put labels on art works. Very snob. They suggest us to go down to Art Unlimited, where the fair actually appears as an exhibition, and the mood is softer. Really exciting the video "Zidane", by D. Gordon and P. Parreno. Camera's batteries can't stand all this, and we can't catch other impressions. The next day we are supposed to go to the bare little fairs, which looks like observers of the biggest ones. Everyone wanted to be on the same square, in a small and easy to visit town, which also features a certain tradition in the field. For example, the attending of characters like Beyeler or Hoffman La Roche. Everyone is aware that nowadays art is based on commercial transactions, definitely entering into tags like "mass culture" and "luxury goods".
 
 

Original Briefing

In how many ways can an art fair grow a city's cultural capital?

 
Art fairs are not necessarily fair to art. Packed in precarious booths billions worth of pieces lay, at times badly installed, getting assaulted by hordes of collectors and dealers, exhausted by perpetual PR activities and alcohol. Although this kind of events gave birth to the so called Art Fair Art – fair-specific inside-critiques by skeptical, or attention-craving, artists – the bare matter of these marathons is mistreated, to say the least, enough to shed a tear for the death of the white cube. Gathering yearly the crème of the art world on Swiss ground, Art Basel – and the other satellite fairs like the emerging art-oriented Liste – managed to turn a not-so-special European town into a world famous mundane reference. During the span of the fairs, art professionals and art lovers crowd the city streets: the former to put their hands on the hottest selling material and the latter to smell some of the VIP atmosphere. Not to miss the chance, the city is also trying to trickle down its cultural appeal to local institutions - like the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Kunstmuseum, the Kunsthalle and the Fondation Beyeler - grouping them under the Art City Basel label along with the fairs. Whether they help the art or not, these kind of events do lend a hand to the city's reputation.
 
read more
 

Gallery

During the span of Art Basel and Liste, art professionals and art lovers crowd the Basel streets: the former to put their hands on the hottest selling material and the latter to smell some of the VIP atmosphere. Not to miss the chance, the city is also trying to trickle down its cultural appeal to local institutions grouping them under the Art City Basel label along with the fairs. Whether they help the art or not, these kind of events do lend a hand to a city's reputation.
 
Fair Play – Art Basel
Fair Play – Art Basel
Fair Play – Art Basel
Fair Play – Art Basel
Fair Play – Art Basel
Fair Play – Art Basel
Fair Play – Art Basel
Fair Play – Art Basel
 

Mission Guestbook

Leave our agents a comment.
Leave a comment
Gogopeace
posted by: Gogopeace | 10/24/2008 12:09 am
 
The creation is really cool ;)
hrulka
posted by: hrulka | 11/21/2008 05:59 pm
 
thats awesome
 

Why Join MINI Space?

Because membership has its privileges, seriously...
 
· Get involved in creative competitions & projects
 
· Get invited to MINI events & parties
 
· Get featured with your creative work and meet
other creative people
 
Join now

Mission Map

The MINI Rooftop NYC

The MINI Rooftop NYC
 
Join us when we bring events, talks, gigs & parties to NYC!
 
more about the event