Art Basel Projects
Art Basel Projects involved a series of large-scale works by four international artists: Monica Bonvicini, Benita-Immanuel Grosser, Malcolm McClaren, and Pedro Reyes. The presentation of this new sector, sited and around Halle 1, aims to invite the Art Basel public to reflect on, experience and appreciate - to visit and revisit - the ways and means of presenting art. In undertaking this initiative, the show underlines its direct collaboration with artists and likewise lends support to non-profit institutions such as those intimately involved in the development of these four projects. Art Basel Projects was curated by Cay Sophie Rabinowitz.
Monica Bonvicini
Built for Crime, 2006
Spelling out the phrase «BUILTFORCRIME», Bonvicini's imposing sculpture of toughened glass and light tests the functional remit of the material from which it is constructed – safety glass. The inner layer of each letter has received impacts causing it to shatter while still retaining its form. The statement of the text and the mode, or act, of production/destruction is a contradiction of the intended use of the material – it was not, of course, meant to be smashed. This work was commissioned by the Liverpool Biennial International 06, and then exhibited in 2007 at Sculpture Center.
Benita-Immanuel Grosser
Participating, at the same time
With their project «participating, at the same time», the artist team Benita-Immanuel Grosser have been integrating the theory and practice of yoga into the context of art since 1995 (At Pat Hearn Gallery, New York). In June 2001, they opened the Y8/International Sivananda Yoga Center, in Hamburg (www.artyoga.de), where positions from contemporary art and culture (Katharina Grosse, Angela Bulloch) are regularly put up for discussion within the context of yoga. Their room installations reflect both their ongoing project, participating, at the same time, and their conceptual approach to art/yoga space. The platform on which the yoga classes take place is based on the floor plan of Y8 (pronounced «yacht»), which is transferred onto the floor of the respective exhibition space. The Yoga session involves breathing exercises, basic postures, and relaxation. Beginner and intermediate levels are welcome; mats, cushions, blankets are supplied. Those wishing to participate should wear comfortable clothes, preferably white; (these are also available from Y8 for participants.)
Malcolm McClaren
Shallow, 2008
A multi-media work, the Musical Paintings (Shallow 1-21), are a series of original musical «cut-ups» composed by McLaren, set to appropriated clips of ordinary people who are about to have sex, that have been spliced, repeated, both slowed down and in real time. The result is hypnotic, layered and provocative. This collection of Musical Paintings - portraits of people thinking, desiring, wanting, wishing, and imagining having sex, have been dug out of the ruins of pop culture: old sex films and pop music. McLaren explains they are not films or videos, not cut in rhythm or narrative-based, but another form entirely: They are a map of feelings that navigate both the «look of music» and the «sound of fashion». This summer, Creative Time will screen McCLaren’s work in Manhattan’s Time Square.
Pedro Reyes
Leverage II, 2008
Pedro Reyes works within a complex system of associations that defies our assumptions about the ways knowledge is categorized and legitimized. By blending the realms of utopia and function, he has developed an arsenal of terms and forms to release creativity from ordinary limitations. Though he trained as an architect, Reyes’ underlying interest in structural design and building principles goes beyond the formal aspects of architecture, for in his practice the utilization of space is infused with symbolic as well as physical schemes to enhance human communication and creativity. With his chromed steel seesaw sculpture, entitled Leverage II, an otherwise static space for mere viewing is capable of activating individual reflection and group liberation. Reyes is an idealist who employs myriad strategies and sources with an aim to improve the world. A similar work, Leverage I, was installed in 2006 at Harvard University Carpenter Center and at the Americas Society in New York.