Wynwood - Satellite fair tents, Miami rising in the distance
One more day to go and Art Basel MIami Beach 2008 will be history; Sunday December 7th is the last day. Monday, Miami will fall into an industrial-size stupor. We can already see extra large sunglasses permanently affixed to everyones head, lest the Paparazzi catch those bleary eyes with a close-up lens. I know, nightmare scary, huh.
The Wynwood section of Miami had the greatest concentration of Art Basel-related satellite fairs. I had had enough of threading my way through traffic and scrounging up parking, so today I opted for sneakers, my grubbies and a bicycle....AAAAAAHHH. Hey, I stayed cute and creative for 4 whole days; I want a medal.
Can you see the hair chair by Ja Young Yoon?
OK, you are more interested in the art than my closet contents; understood. I encountered a number of very clever, thoughtful folks who use themselves to enhance our lives; whether it be a minor epiphany (I call them "Piffies"), a moment of insight, amazement or chuckle of any size. Following others thoughts inward can facilitate a forward motion in my own thinking. The SCOPE Exhibition was worth the time. Miami gallery, Abba Fine Arts, had Korean artist Ja Young Yoon displaying her human hair sculptures. She had shaved off all her hair and proceeded to create many art pieces by tying strands of her own together. Shall I pause for a second while you absorb that fact? I photographed a woven "hair chair", if you will, so fine my camera would not pick up the lines. I"m including the photo in my article but good luck seeing it. I bumped up the contrast and burned in the strands, but still it is a bare whisper of an image. Behind the hair chair is an umbrella, also woven of her hair. Right now, she is out of material and will spend a period of time regrowing and conjuring up her next pieces. For those of you (I am raising my hand here) who worry about the expense of artistic life; maybe we look too far for inspiration and materials.
Coming through a refrigerator "doorway" in Meth Lab installation
If your socks are still not knocked off, the NY Times reported on an installation called Hello Meth Lab with a View, by Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe; located in an exhibit called The Station. A full home meth lab had been concocted in an unfinished building in the heart of MIdtown Miami complex. A mass of filth and jury-rigged lab equipment. it was an eye-opener. ( I watched carefully for those taking notes). The "apartment" wandered through rooms with knocked out walls for doors and a backless refrigerator that stood for a doorway to the next "room". You felt like Alice falling into the rabbit hole.
We emerged feeling like we had been in another world.
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MIller & Shellabarger "Always together, always in public"
Consider the two men at the NADA Exhibit who crocheted with pink yarn all during the fair, or the woman who was painting numbered hopscotch squares on wynwood streets going for the longest hopscotch in the Guinness Book of World Records; she is a first.
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