¡õ By Fang Zhenning
Where does Art Basel get its confidence?
It was only after we had completed the grand art tour of the summer of 2007, that we Understood the meaning of the article 'Has Art Basel lost out to Venice and Documenta?' which appeared on June 14th in prominent position on the front page of the daily publication Art News. We could now say that Art Basel is the winner, because it is from Art Basel that we realize how art and commerce can become a perfect union.
In early June, I headed towards Art Basel in Switzerland after my visit to the Venice Biennale. My first time to Art Basel was 15 years ago - nothing much has changed today. Same location, same quality, same service, with the exception of a quiet modification with the announcement on the opening day of the fair of a new management team: director Samuel Keller will be succeeded by a triumvirate, with Cay Sophie Rabinowitz as Artistic Director, Annette Schonholzer in charge of organization and finances, and Marc Spiegler responsible for strategy and development. Despite extensive coverage by certain media of Samuel Keller's peaking career and unique contribution, for nearly seven years since 2000, as the director of Art Basel as well as its sister fair Art Basel Miami, Keller confirmed his decision of leaving the fair for a position at an art foundation. At the same time Art Basel also announced its new strategic target regions: China and the Middle East.
Another obvious change which took place was the significant increase in interesting faces from Asia. Among them, there were more people hailing from China than in the past years, including several major media groups who were specifically reporting on Art Basel. This is a reflection on the dramatic changes in Asia due to economic growth, and in particular China's lead in the art market.
Art Basel is generally recognized as the top air fair in the world and the most important annual market in the art world. To artists, this is a top platform of global influence. Here one can see a model which cannot be found in any other fair in the world, especially new works never shown in public before; naturally this is also a stage for newcomers. This year 300 galleries had been selected from 800 applications, exhibiting works from more than 2000 well-known artists. For 50,000 people from the world to gather at the same time in the small town of Basel, population 200,000, besides the purpose of artwork sales and art trends is also an important event which is the party of Basel and the consecutive nights of celebration.
Art Basel is indeed an artistic brand name of Switzerland. Just like other Swiss high-end products, the creation of a brand requires an understanding as well as an operational mechanism of innovation.
The pursuit and safeguard of quality is the basis for maintaining the reputation of a brand; thus the strict selection of participating galleries in Art Basel and the close observation of art development in particular regions are indicative of Art Basel's high standards and earnest approach. Art Basel has first and foremost affirmed its very own scale of measure with a high threshold, and as a result most galleries view the success in entering the fair as a main reference for their positioning in the international art world. This is where Art Basel's confidence comes from.
Art Unlimited
'Art Unlimited' presents, for exhibition and sale, approximately 70 unusual works. Due to limitations by the fair's original venue in the aspects of time, technology, funding and context, rendering the exhibition of large-scale works difficult, Hall 1 was intentionally made into an extensive space resembling an art museum, thus creating the opportunity to exhibit rare and unusual works. If one thinks of it not only as an exhibition space, but also a platform for artwork sales, it is in fact a major move in market expansion on the part of the fair committee.
The works here had been selected from over 200 projects submitted by different galleries. Since innovation and large dimension are the two main curatorial focuses in this section, one could probably interpret 'Art Unlimited' as 'Art Opportunities Unlimited'.
Left of the entrance to 'Art Unlimited' is a piece by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Although the space is not large, the presentation is intricate. A large-scale work by the American conceptual artist Mel Bochner is also located here.
However the work with the greatest impact has to be from the French artist Guillaume Leblon. Born in 1971, his work possesses the striking effect of a monument: a large rectangular piece made from plaster blocks, stretching a limited form to its maximum degree, and giving the viewer a feeling of expansion in both mass and space.
Most of the works in 'Art Unlimited' were specially commissioned for the section, jointly curated by the committee and curator Simon Lamuniere from Geneva. Some major artists selected for this section include: Alighiero Boetti, Carl Andre, Daniel Buren, Bruce Conner, Carlos Garaicoa, David Hammons, Allan McCollum, Annette Messager, Stephen Prina, Gregor Schneider, Jim Shaw, and Marijke van Warmerdam.
For the Art Market
Despite the duration of only one week, this year's Art Basel has specifically set up several independent sections including 'Art Unlimited', 'Art Statement' and 'Art Film'. In addition to them are Professional Day' and newly included 'Art Basel Conversations' in order to enhance the academic image of the fair. However the real sales action still takes place in Hall 2 from the crowds of clients one can tell which are the venues associated with the art market.
Welcoming Sky Mirror
Last year, Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor created a stir with his Sky Mirror, a 35-inch concave mirror placed at the entrance of the Rockafeller Center on the Fifth Avenue in New York. Made from polished stainless steel, the mirror reflects the sky as well as people around it. This time the Sky Mirror had arrived at the entrance of Hall 2 in this year's Art Basel. Belonging to part of a series, this work was soon purchased through the Lisson Gallery and taken home by an important Spanish private collector after being displayed in public for a short time at the fair; Lisson Gallery allegedly sold the work for more than 1 million pounds. On the on hand Lisson gallery successful sold this work, on the other, representatives from the gallery made a strange remark saying, 'we're extremely puzzled, has the void in the art world reached new heights?'
Kapoor said to the media, 'I'm interested in objects that don't look the same the first time you see them. The highly reflective polished stainless steel can transform according to the light changes, and be able to imitate itself to become a illusionary "non-object".' Kapoor's work was extremely popular, with several other mirror works already in the possession of major private collectors.
Sex Toys and Santa Claus
Right in front of the entry to 'Art Unlimited' on the plaza of Hall 2, we see Paul McCarthy's Santa with Butt Plug weighing 9 tons and measuring 6 meters, this gigantic Santa Claus holds a butt plug in one hand and a bell in the other, a monument that affirms McCarthy's identity.
Popularity of Jean Prouvé
The work of Jean Prouvé French master of prefabricated constructions, is much acclaimed at this year's Basel. Prouv?s 1944 design of a movable metal house was bought by a Paris collector for 280,000 Euros. This fashion statement and the increasing popularity of his designs are timely with a re-appreciation of his work.
Mel Bochner: Celebrity of Conceptual Art
The famous American conceptual artist and critic Mel Bochner has works showing in both 'Art Unlimited' and numerous galleries in Hall 2. With many of them placed in very eye-catching locations, his major works are presented by the Galerie Nelson Freeman based in Paris.
In 1966 Bochner proposed two characteristics of conceptual art: '1. It affirms the narrative power of language, is able to describe, and even narrate. 2. It can be reproduced, and does not have any unique traditional characteristics.'
Bochner's work is inspired by linguistics, philosophy and mathematics. He interprets the world as an inevitable result of mathematical logic and philosophical language; thus Bochner often presents his work as texts quoting from language and philosophy, elements that display the process of abstract thinking and emotional condition.
At the fair Bochner's Event Horizon (Paris), created in 2006, received considerable attention. The work consists of more than a dozen monochrome paintings of different sizes arranged in a horizontal line, on which the sizes and measurements are marked with arrows, presenting the inevitable result of clear mathematical logic. His large-scale piece E8 Event Horizon 1998 creates considerable visual impact at the 'Art Unlimited' venue.
Bochner believes that 'art that is old is visible during the creative process, while art that is new is invisible during creative process'. What Bochner calls 'invisible' works are in fact the kind of 'visual products' that can be sensed.
Lawrence Weiner's Art PhilosophyAt the art fair, numerous galleries present works by the pioneering American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, and appear to echo the work by the same artist on the most prominent location of the Venice Biennale on a wall directly opposite the Italian pavilion. There are many significant conceptual artists in the world- so where is Weiner positioned today? On a huge white wall 31.55m long and 13.71m high, the artist displays his consistent genre of art philosophy.
During the past 40 years, Weiner has been acknowledged as one of the pioneers in conceptual art history. Weiner persistently uses language as his medium, meticulously creating a series of outstanding work that evoke the process of art re-conceptualized through personal sensation.
In 1968 with his symbolic installation made from steel capital letters Declaration of Intent, Weiner expostulates: 1. The artist may construct the piece. 2. The piece may be fabricated. 3. The piece need not be built. (Each being equal and consistent with the intent of the artist the decision as to condition rests with the receiver upon the occasion of receivership.) This is the basis of his philosophical system, as well as the turning point of his entire body of work later on. Weiner's works attempt to create a solid creative basis for language and conceptual art, at the same time to lead the viewer towards the inherent language of material and non-material subjects. If Weiner's works seem abstruse, then it is because they direct us to areas of aesthetic experience that have never been explored.
Weiner not only uses language as a tool to express philosophy, moreover, he never repeats himself with the forms he chooses to express the language. Every new word, phrase and font that appears in his work is passionately embraced by his followers.
Although most of his fans in Asia are from Japan, one cannot deny that Weiner is just as much of a 'famous tune' in art circles in China. We await Weiner's touring solo exhibition, starting at the Whitney Museum, in the coming November.
In addition, this year sees the first official collaboration between Art Basel, the Venice Biennale, Documenta and the Munster Sculpture Exhibition. For this reason, at Venice, the first stop of this journey of the four heavyweights of art events, we could already find the map of this grand art tour, luring more visitors to the three other destinations.
Whose Platform?
Learning about Art Basel through any media does not measure up to visiting the fair in person. After 38 years of operation, Art Basel has positioned itself to be one of the top art platforms in the world; at the same time, based on this year's selection and number of participating galleries, we can see that galleries from China are taking an increasingly considerable share.
This year's participation sees 73 galleries from the US; 55 from Germany; 36 from Switzerland; 29 from the UK; 23 from France; 21 from Italy; 8 from Austria and Spain; 7 from Belgium; 5 from Denmark; 4 from Brazil, Japan and the Netherlands; and 1 each from Australia, Finland, India, Ireland, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa and Turkey. As for China, despite the participation of major galleries that deal in works by Chinese artists including Shanghart, Meile Gallery and Galleria Continua, they are mostly European-owned galleries. Vitamin Creative Space was fortunate to have been selected, but its inconspicuous location and the lack of installation expertise turned out to be a letdown.
Art Basel has a selection committee composed of experienced and prominent members of international galleries and experts, in charge of a careful selection process that is based on extensive research, consultation and discussion. In addition to that, an independent appeals commission takes the responsibility of reviewing unsuccessful applications on request. From this we see a completely organized art fair system, because a system is the machine for production standards. For the past hundred years, Asia has been making the operational systems in the US and Europe as the target standard for its own system.
This year's most talked-out 'Art Unlimited' include works by Chinese artists. It has not been easy for Chinese artists to arrive at this platform, and their success is partly due to the attention towards the rising strength of China as a whole; at the same time, for those visitors who viewed these works on site, can they really feel, through them, the future of art?