missed it
Post #424 • December 6, 2004, 7:03 AM • 27 Comments
Scope. Too many people said that they liked NADA better, and I didn't think much of NADA.
Art Positions. In the past it has provided little more than a pointless stroll.
Video Lounge. I wouldn't have minded seeing this if I hadn't burned out when I did.
Various swank parties. No thank you. I'm in it for the art.
Art Loves Dumb Names Puppet Rock. They wouldn't honor my press badge at the door.
Anybody go and have a review to share?
2.
December 6, 2004, 3:54 PM
Franklin: Thanks for posting the Bonnard. I was going to mention seeing it at ABMB but didn't think you could get a good enough pic of it.
Did you pop by Wynwood or the Design District Saturday? Mayhem. Imagine if people thought this happens regularly! I missed my opportunity on Sunday morning, without a camera in hand to witness the area--like several liquor stores were bombed and scattered over the area. Shots like these would have been the perfect way to wrap up the weekend event.
Do you think galleries on the whole made money, or just a few? ABMB, Scope, Nada? Curious.
3.
December 6, 2004, 5:19 PM
Scope: I didn't even bother with such a poor list of galleries.
NADA: Great line-up.
ABMB: Very long endless walking but i saw a few good things.
Basel Containers: Maccarone gallery was one of the best things I saw all week.
Rosa de la Cruz Party: The only party you should have been to, especially if your not into parties.
Freedom Tower: Jenny Holzer projections all night long. worth it!
4.
December 6, 2004, 6:56 PM
does anyone know how stuff gets selected for the Video Lounge?
5.
December 6, 2004, 7:45 PM
Why would you call the list of galleries at Scope poor? There are quite a few galleries that show interesting new work in NYC at least. Do you think only the big expensive ones are worth visiting?
6.
December 6, 2004, 8:18 PM
Scope and Art Positions were a waste of time the last two years, and I wasn't in the mood to give third chances. NADA had bad word of mouth and a much less user-friendly location this year , so I skipped it. The party scene is for people into the party scene. As for the "ART loves X" events, the only one I would have been interested in is "Art loves Quality". It was not on the calendar.
7.
December 6, 2004, 8:33 PM
sometimes i feel miami is so jaded. we are offered the hottest art events in the country and no one sounds very happy or greatful.
Truth be told. I had a blast.
Barry: nada fair was not at all user-UN-friendly. It was at the huge ice palace, free parking, free admission, and the hottest galleries in the country. I assume your not interested in cutting-edge art and perhaps have a more traditional eye. (maybe the Lowe art museum permanet collection is more up your alley.)
other highlights include:
Dearraindrop's installation at the Collins Building and the Moore Space.
8.
December 6, 2004, 8:43 PM
Dearraindrop?.......heh, heh, heh.
9.
December 6, 2004, 8:56 PM
Uh, mon ami, I'm not interested in "cutting edge" or "traditional" art per se; I'm interested in GOOD art of any vintage. And no, the Lowe is not more up my alley, certainly not the dreary bunch of dated mediocrities now on offer in what I guess qualifies as their Basel show (American Painting: 1930-1950).
10.
December 6, 2004, 9:18 PM
"greatful", mon ami?
11.
December 6, 2004, 9:53 PM
Nada felt like more of an extension of Basel then Scope. However, I complained about Scope's venue before (cramped). Nada's venue was awesome - a huge, wonderfully spacious structure, with galleries arranged in rows, so you could peruse systematically (trying to tackle Basel systematically never seems to work, and you end up seeing some stuff 2,3 times, missing other stuff altogether). High, barn-like ceilings, hammocks outside, and they kept the AC on and kept the doors mostly open, which somehow made the atmosphere psychologically and physically very comfortable. And yes, the free aspect was nice, too (tho i got into scope for free).
Franklin lucks out - i would have gotten much more out of all these events if i'd been able to make snapshots of pieces that made an impression, the better to recall them later. How does one get a press pass, anyhow?
12.
December 6, 2004, 10:11 PM
When I said NADA's site was less user-friendly than last year, I was referring strictly to the location, which last year was ideal: just off Lincoln Road, so one could do the Convention Center and NADA at the same time without any trouble. I'm not familiar with this Ice Palace place, though it sounds like it worked well as a venue.
13.
December 6, 2004, 10:36 PM
Franklin:
Speaking as a remote viewer, I think you did a better job than Walter Robinson or Rothkopf (not to mention Jennifer Rubell).
alesh:
About the Darth Vader photo you described so well: to paraphrase the man himself, "I find your lack of taste disturbing." (Not really. I just couldn't resist the line. Always go for the laugh, the guy says.)
Greatfully yours,
JdB
14.
December 6, 2004, 11:11 PM
Alesh: last year I just showed them my business card. This year they made me sit down and write my own letter of authorization, which someone looked at with a concerned expression for a while before giving me press creds. Next year I expect to have to submit a urine sample.
Jerome: do you have a link to Jennifer Rubell's report (and do I understand you correctly that she posted one somewhere)?
15.
December 6, 2004, 11:18 PM
R:
I got some pics of the mayhem from saturday night on my url. As far out as the "music" performances were, they were still better than most of the paintings I saw. I don't know if the galleries made alot of money but I doubt saturday was the best night for sales.
16.
December 6, 2004, 11:32 PM
I understand why some people insist that art must be profound and timeless to be any good, but I disagree. I think silly art can be good. I think art that is relevant today, but may be less relevant in the future, can be good.
I judge art by whether it expresses something, be it an idea, a feeling, or something even less tangible. I award points for originality. I award points for physical skill.
17.
December 7, 2004, 12:08 AM
It has to be good to be profound and timeless, Shaolin. Silly can be good if it's good. "Relevant" is beside the point.
18.
December 7, 2004, 12:58 AM
Jerome: A "remote viewer?" Do you mean "a non-viewer, someone who wasn't in Miami and thus saw nothing?"
19.
December 7, 2004, 1:40 AM
this was my first year to be out of state while ABMB was in town. in the past years i've traipsed through all the events, parties, openings, whatnot, and even written about it for a national newspaper. when i was there it felt like the center of the art universe, an event--series of events--that seemed so big that the reverberations, i thought, must be felt in the great beyond. (i mean, weren't all these people coming from all over the world to see us in miami?) it's a funny thing, though: up here in the northeast (where it's about to snow--god help me) there's not a blip on the radar screen regarding ABMB. not a blurb in the papers, not a line on the news, no art people talking about it, nada. (sorry, couldn't resist that pun.) anyway, it's been great to read the blog each day to get a sense of the frenzy down there. not to be too bah-humbug about all the energy the town extends, but from a distance it's seems like a lot of spinning wheels, and much ado about nothing.
20.
December 7, 2004, 2:08 AM
well said necee, maybe thats Miami's problem, we think people care about a for sale show, but very few do.
21.
December 7, 2004, 3:24 AM
Oh come on. The big media has been FULL of stories about ABMB. The New York Times, Bloomberg, the LA Times, the Toronto Globe & Mail, AP, the Miami Herald, the New York Post, every airline and travel magazine I've seen in two months, the news.google.com list goes on and on. ABMB doesn't need me to defend it -- god forbid -- but anyone saying that ABMB isn't getting media attention must be going out of their way not to notice.
22.
December 7, 2004, 3:26 AM
R, one artist at NADA told me that he was selling everything. I asked people at ABMB and NADA if they were having a good fair, and they all said yes.
23.
December 7, 2004, 5:34 AM
someone told me she heard that one of the containers sold out in 30 minutes. could be a rumor, could be true.
tyler, i wasn't saying that ABMB hasn't gotten any big-time media attention. i'm saying is the reach of miami's importance hosting this show is blown out of proportion. by changing location my perspective has changed: when you are in the thick of things it seems enormous. when you step out, it's not such a big deal. i wrote about the week-long extravaganza for the travel section of the boston globe last year, and yet there is nothing here about the show this year, neither in the media nor among the larger arts and educational communities.
when you get right down to it, all the media-hype is just that. it's all about buzz, and less about art. writers need a story, and miami is sexy. and it photographs well. but what remains of lasting value? i'm sure there are nougats of value, but i'm mainly thinking coca-cola: great burst of energy, lots of empty calories.
24.
December 7, 2004, 11:07 AM
what the fuck does that MEAN???
i suppose the superbowl and the war in iraq are much ado about nothing, too. they happened, but leave no lasting value?? they get written up in the new york times. no big deal.
most people ignore them. that's the way of humanity.
what's up with that cezanne quote at the bottom of the page? i have to see that every day now? did we vote on that? it's pretty close to making me take a gun to my head.
25.
December 7, 2004, 1:33 PM
SSM, the Cezanne quote strikes me as loaded with hope about the future and the power of art. One day a little quote-switching script will change it out like the image above. In the meantime, please, no guns.
26.
December 7, 2004, 4:09 PM
Franklin:
The Jennifer Rubell report is in December 2004 Food & Wine magazine. I don't know if its online; I just used its first sentence, with the bald-domed, red vinyl twins reference, to poke a little fun at you, but as Mel Gibson said in Conspiracy Theory, "Nobody sees my work."
Did Tyler Green say my name? I ain't taking his calls.
Sincerely,
Jerome du Bois
27.
December 7, 2004, 7:17 PM
Shaolin: Franklin made his point about the carrot, not that it should need to be explained. It is not up to us to "vote" on his site.
As for the gun, suit yourself.
1.
alesh
December 6, 2004, 3:35 PM
Quite a few people I've talked to liked Scope better then either of the other two shows, and I grudingly agree (for me, the combination of cramped hotel corridors and cramped hotel rooms make for clusterphobia, even when you toss in just a few people).
Scope was a distinctly different art experience from the other two shows, at least in part because each gallery was required to fill 80% of each of their areas with work from just one artist.
Plus, out of nowhere, there was a primo Henry Darger piece in one of the rooms.