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Tuesday November 29, 2005
The obligatory Art Basel guide
First of all, this pdf at the Basel site, which lists all the official and semi-official happenings, might be everything that you need. Still, we have some observations:
- Even if you have no idea what all the ballyhoo is about, or don’t care much for art, you should go. The core event, at the convention center this weekend, will give you a glimpse into a pretty bizarre world.
- The Video Lounge is totally worth a visit. Actually, the way the schedule [another pdf] works, it’s worth repeated visits.
- Of all the “other” fairs, NADA is our pick for the best one. The art is good, the setting is unexpected, and it’s free. Scope has lots of good stuff, but the setting (inside a Collins Ave. hotel) is a little claustrophobic with all the crowds. Others are Pulse, Aqua, and (not art) design.05.
- The New York Dolls are playing at Art Positions Wednesday night. Two original members!
- If you’ve never been to the Rubell or the Margulies, they’ll still be there next weekend, and considerably less crowded.
- Saturday night in the Design District is a pretty massive spectacle, with roads closed, bands, and brawling art people. Kind of worth it.
- Before that, at 8 pm at the Botanical Gardens, we get a screening of the documentary, Who Gets to Call it Art?. (Update: Peter says, “no tix or reservations are required. There are only 200 seats so I would get there a little early. Screening starts at 8:30.”)
- Who gets to call it breakfast? Well, on Sunday you can get breakfast with Jenny Holzer at FIU if you want. (Numerous other breakfasts abound, too.)
- One possibly cool art-insider thing is Thursday morning at 10 at the Botanical Gardens: Glenn D. Lowry, Director, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Lisa Dennison, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and Peter C. Marzio, Director, Museum of Fine Arts, Huston, in a bellyaching session about, “thrills and frustrations of their profession.”
- Zaha Hadid, the architect of the Cincinnati Art Center, talks to Craig Robbins at the Moore Space, Sunday at 6 pm.
- A couple of cool shows at local galleries are opening Wednesday (when only the highest and mightiest movers and shakers will be allowed into Basel; standard movers and shakers get invites for Thursday), including Pimp My Kart at Faktura Gallery and Boomerang at MLP, which includes new work by our pals Erika Morales and Rene Barge. (Update: yes, Boomerang is on the MLP site. thx, erika!)
Mo’ updates:
- “Off the Map,” curated by Bernice Steinbaum and featuring work by FIU graduate students and professors, opens Thursday at Atlas Plaza. It includes work by Harumi, Isabel, and Peggy.
- Tonight is the opening of the William Kentridge show at MAC, which nobody can seem to be able to shut up about. This would seem to fall under the “see it a couple of weeks after Basel” category, but suit yourself. Also, the MAC has launched their new site, a difficult to navigate all-Flash monstrosity that will make it impossible for us to link specific events on their site. Wherefore standards?
- Really, ask somebody who cares: Tyler Green cares (although if you’re checking this after Tuesday, click here instead for the latest). The man is good: he’s got a list of bloggers from all over the country who are coming to town and will be “Blogging Basel.” Let’s not get all freaked out about the water – the news said it’d rain this afternoon and then not again for the rest of the weekend. Whatever happened happened – unless you’re showing in one of the shows, you don’t need to freak.
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thanks for the post. i am a non-art grad student and this site has actually been a welcome relief to what i call my miami life. i hit a few basel events last year, and hoped to be better prepped to go at it again this year. thanks for the beta on the free stuff to take advantage of.
dont forgett that opening at miami light projects, all this stuff is to much i wish it was spread out over 2 weeks or something
no mention of frisbee or omni? both good fairs for sure.