Scoping in Scope

     
Once again, I found myself enjoying the smaller shows parallel to Art Basel, especially the Scope show in Karserne. The participants here were no big-shot galleries and artists. But it was still interesting to see David Middlebrook’s appropriation of Magritte and Duchamp, Ellen Urselmann’s cute blown glass objects, Ralf Kaspers’ cloud-swimming people, and Kyoeng Sub Yue’s super nice paper cut-out with uncanny details – just to name a few. Traditional paintings usually don’t get my attention easily. But Italian artist Troilo’s powerful image painted by fingers was truly impressive.

David Middlebrook, Congress (front), Breath of Fresh Air (back)

Ellen Urselmann, No Title, 2009

Ellen Urselmann, No Title, 2011

Ralf Kaspers, Summerland III Tokyo, 2011

Kyoeng Sub Yue, Cut Out

Patrick Tschudi, Chinese Faith, 2012

Troilo, Untitled, 2012

Alexandre and John Gailla, No One Gets Hurt, 2012 (front), Chrysalide 12 (back)

Bome, Oni-Musume, 2009

Kathy Mueller-Moser, Friends

Idán Zareski, Big Foot, 2011

Compared to Art Basel, I felt I saw more fresh ideas and new media here in Scope. MARCK’s video installations synthesized film and physical objects into a new art form. Anna Tas used lenticular printing techniques to create a cute 3D version of Magritte. Alessandro Brighetti demonstrated electromagnetic manipulation of oil-based ferrofluids on a dark skull. Kenji Sugiyama created fascinating mini universes within pasta boxes. This series of dioramas explored the notions of consumerism and voyeurism.

MARCK, New Freedom (Bath II) Silver, 2011

MARCK, Mutterglück LEGO II, 2012

Anna Tas, Son of Man

Alessandro Brighetti, Schizophrenia

Kenji Sugiyama, Institute of Intimate Museums

The most impressive was Claire Shegog’s Busby series. Inspired by Busby Berkeley’s films and choreographic work, Shegog painstakingly handmade thousands of miniature figures with matching costume and accessories, and arranged them in circular forms. The result was dazzling. Here we saw order and repetition, patterns created with attention to details in both design and craftsmanship.

Claire Shegog, Busby series

Claire Shegog, Busby’s Chandelier, 2012

Claire Shegog, Busby’s Folly (left), Busby’s Showgirls (right), 2012

At Scope, I also saw more critical concepts behind the artworks. Satch Hoyt’s award-winning installation was a podium made from art books both found and donated from around the world. Who has the right to speech? This piece served as a critique on the contemporary art world, commemorating those who are not yet enshrined in the “legitimate” history of art. Deborah Sengl’s graphic installation reminded us of the pretentiousness in our culture, which completely gave way to consumerism, as Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre revealed in their photographic work. Even the ¥€$ regime is facing crises and paper bank notes themselves could be dispensable. Political corruptions? Jiao Xingtao’s marble sculpture was a critique of Bo Xilai’s extravaganza in Dalian. (He built a huabiao – traditional ornamental column – in Dalian that was twice as big as the ones in Tian’anmen Square.) Maybe we are better off living through special pills of hugs and love, as Edie Nadelhaft suggested. Or we could stand up to things, like what Ruby Anemic put in a neon sign: No Guts No Glory.

Satch Hoyt, Say It Loud: Recreating the Canon, 2012

Deborah Sengl, And Cut!, 2012

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre, Gotham Theater, above and below. New York, NY, USA, 2009

Zevs, Liquidated Yes, 2011

Paul Rousso, Big Money

Edie Nadelhaft, Better Living Thru Chemistry, 2012

Edie Nadelhaft, Chill, 2012

Jiao Xingtao, White Marble, 2010

Ruby Anemic, No Guts No Glory, 2012

     

Art Basel: (Un)limited

     
If you have been to Art Basel, you would probably know that Art Unlimited is usually a better sector of the fair – less commercial with more ambitious large installations. This year, Art Unlimited presented 60+ pieces, from big sculptures to large photo prints to video art, from classics in the 60s to the most recent works of the year.

Just beyond the entrance was Damián Ortega’s Architecture without Architects. As usual Ortega, the found elements were hung apart from each other. But this time, furniture and building parts stood still at where they were supposed to be in a three-story house, lacking the explosive power of his Cosmic Thing or the intensity created by the knives in Controller of the Universe. Not far from Ortega was Chris Burden’s typical Erector Set construction. A bit further in was Franz West’s mammoth Gekröse (largest sculpture he had created to date). It looked like an upset intestinal tract, but I kind of liked its playfulness. Thomas Ruff presented a large print from his new ma.r.s. series, in which photos were created from NASA images with manipulated perspective and color. Mike Nelson reconstructed the shrine-like After Kerouac (2006). For some while I thought it was a version of Allan Kaprow’s Yard (1961). David Zwirner reenacted their 2009 “Thousand” exhibition featuring Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s 1000 Polaroid photos from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. Italian Arte Povera master Pier Paolo Calzolari’s historic untitled piece was also shown. It consisted of six white mattresses filled with swan’s down and supported upright on a surface of lead with a refrigerating mechanism that created a layer of frost. The povera piece was marked with a not-so-povera price of €1 million.

Damián Ortega, Architecture without Architects, 2010

Chris Burden, Curved Bridge, 2003

Franz West, Gekröse, 2011

Thomas Ruff, ma.r.s.13, 2011

Mike Nelson’s After Kerouac starts with a spiral passage

Mike Nelson, After Kerouac, 2006

Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Thousand

Pier Paolo Calzolari, Untitled, 1970/94

This part of Art Basel is called “unlimited” because it is supposed to be the “pioneering exhibition platform for projects that transcend the classical art-show stand.” But this year’s ensemble still didn’t go beyond the limits of the trade fair context. You just could not forget the fact that you were in a Messe hall with slick glass curtain wall and steel trusses. I had seen Phyllida Barlow’s Stage meandering between columns in Haus der Kunst in Munich, instead of standing between white boxes in a trade fair. Ugo Rondinone’s 59 lead birds were nice. But compared to Maurizio Cattelan populating the Central Pavilion in Giardini with his stuffed pigeons last year, Primitive seemed rather underwhelming. When Gilbert & George’s London Pictures were shown at Lehmann Maupin in New York last year, the series spanned across many topics and delivered a more thorough and critical portrayal of our current society and city life. But trade fair also had its positive side – at least I didn’t need to worry about Robert Morris’s classic Scatter Piece going to the trash again, with its price tag at $1.45 million awaiting potential buyers.

Phyllida Barlow, Untitled: Stage, 2011

Ugo Rondinone, Primitive, 2011

Gilbert & George, London Pictures, 2011

Robert Morris, Untitled (Scatter Piece), 1968-69

Of course, the limitation had to do with the quality of works as well. The glossy pink pig, among many others, seemed very stupid and shallow.

Richard Jackson, Big Pig, 2009-10

Raqs Media Collective, Revoltage, 2011

My favorite piece though was Ricci Albenda’s Open Universe – a three-dimensional drawing with lines made from delicate bent willow ribs. It revealed an almost architectural space while simultaneously playing with perspectives. In You and My Friends, Ryan McGinley captured the faces of awed fans at various outdoor summer music festivals in the US and Europe. This 5x11 grid of portraits showed the sensibility of the rising star of photography, his explorations of youthful emotions that were, as the title suggested, deeply personal and yet extremely collective.

Ricci Albenda, Open Universe (Indra), 2011

Ryan McGinley, You and My Friends, 2011-12