basel cold snap

I can remember the year.

It was 2001 when the news of ABMB signing a ten year contract with the swamp registered little attention from the multitude of people with marginal interest in a discipline founded on our vices of leisure and contemplation of the subliminal objects. Nine years later, the art virus has infested mass culture on a near pandemic level.

But not every who in whoville is susceptible to the allure and shock of fine art. For much of South Florida it is business as usual... and that means more concrete and another red-light scamera...

Red-light cameras are multiplying faster than ten foot purple snails.

So let's follow the snail trail of slime on a document dump of Basel highlights thus far.

Pal Trey Speegle has hit on a marvelous schtick with his paint-by-numbers message delivery systems.

Vernissage is a word few americans were familiar with until now. We now know that the word is synonymous with the see-n-be-seen event that heralds a week of gorging on art.

No austerity here. The record traffic at all the opening is a sure sign that the audience for art is growing yet the market for art remains flat.

So it is the conventional wisdom of the artist that when sales are weak, the time is ripe for a little experimentation and the taking of calculated risks. Sex always sells.

New media is on the rise. The level of comfort with intellectual property has arrived at a point where folks will pay big bucks for a 15 minute DVD.

There is some amazing art at ABMB. With that said, there is also allot of weird (i can do that) stuff. Marcel Duchamp was right, DADA will rule the world.

Hey Mr. Tallyman, tally me bananas. I'm cuckoo for coconut at 500 buck an nut.

Yoruba has gone Blue Chip. This could be Wynwood, but no it is Basel.

Permaculture has invaded the art fair and i got the munchies.

This curious cluster is "i don't know what".

Two by Fours and a block of upholstery.... 75,000. euros

The future is in re-newable energy and gas pumps will be petrified.

To be a contender in the art world, one needs a good 1,2,knock-out schtick.

Never a fan of female mutilation, Miss Glass Shards is still rather appealing...

This fine couple with their display of trophies would adorn any CEO office or Bank Lobby...

Fake Jean Michel Basquait? what do you think...

Leyden's Tot-Lot at the family friendly corner of the fair.

After the show, a stroll down Lincoln Road reminds visitors of our embarrassments.

I always suspected that the true allure of Miami has always been a pair of opportunities and a "mentirita".

On my next installment we shall discuss the substance of art as expessed by the words and works of Robert Williams, aka god.

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