December 7–10, 2017
Philipp Kaiser's first edition of Public, Art Basel's sector for outdoor sculpture and performances in Miami Beach
2017 marks the first year that Philipp Kaiser curates the Public sector at Art Basel in Miami Beach. Framed around the theme "Territorial," the sector will transform Collins Park into an outdoor exhibition space, featuring 11 site-responsive works by established and emerging artists: Frida Baranek, Yto Barrada, Daniel Buren, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Philippe Decrauzat, Noël Dolla, Cyprien Gaillard, Daniel Knorr, Harold Mendez, Manuela Viera-Gallo and Brenna Youngblood.
Commenting on the theme of this year’s sector—"Territorial"—Philipp Kaiser notes, "Since time immemorial, sculpture has been territorial, commanding and authoritarian. Even when sculpture is presented with utmost restraint and elegance, it asserts its own physical space that we inevitably must share with it." The works selected for Public address this aspect of sculpture as the pieces claim space or territory through size, scale, intensity and sound, among other artistic practices. The theme is also a reference to specific historical discourse from the 1960s in which artists of different nationalities became interested in new sites for their sculptures that existed outside of traditional art institutions.
One of the centerpieces of this year's sector will be Les Guirlandes by Daniel Buren. The restaging of this historic work, which originally debuted at Documenta 7 in 1982, will feature decorative striped flag garlands strung across Collins Park. Loudspeakers will play musical samples—from the baroque operas of Jean-Baptiste Lully to the ragtime of Scott Joplin—that will be systematically interrupted by the recitation of words for colors in 14 different languages. The video work Koe by Cyprien Gaillard comments on the implications of territorial shifts and displacements. The film follows a flock of exotic parakeets that originate from Africa and Asia but were brought to Europe to be kept as pets and have since founded an ecological niche in the urban wilderness of Dusseldorf in Germany.
Further highlights of the sector include work by Noël Dolla, who was a member of the revolutionary Supports/Surfaces group in the late 1960s and 1970s. Dolla will present Restructuration Spatiale n°15, an installation that can be seen as a continuation of Rêve éveillé, a dialogue that began in the enchanting enclosed gardens of the Petit Palais in Paris.
Brenna Youngblood's first sculpture in bronze explores the relationship between language and identity. The piece, M.I.A, signifies both personal and political events by linking the acronym used for soldiers missing in battle, a reference to the artist's 2011 exhibition The Mathematics of an Individual Achievement and the Montgomery Improvement Association, a group co-organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. to guide the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott protest. Manuela Viera-Gallo's Domestic Violence: Matriz Nula translates into physical form the fears, pains and experiences of women who are survivors of domestic violence. In the installation, fragmented and broken ceramic dishes and cups are lashed together to create a serialized sequence of ornaments. The objects look dangerous—sharp, pointed and capable of harm—yet they hang silent and inert, proof of a violent action that has already taken place and the concealed tragedy of domestic violence on a global scale.
As part of Public, Jim Shaw will premier his much anticipated progressive rock opera The Rinse Cycle. Shaw has worked on the opera for ten years and with his band D’red D’warf will perform the first two parts of the opera that combine written music with improvisation, prehistoric chanting and spoken word, accompanied by visuals made by Shaw specifically for the performance. Taking place at SoundScape Park on Wednesday evening, December 6, the opera is free of charge and open to the public.
The Public sector is supported by MGM Resorts Art & Culture. For the full artist list and more information on the program, please visit our website.
