Art Fair Bonanza!
This weekend was amazing- 5 Art Fairs across the city as well as various gallery openings and Brunches. I managed to get to Art Forum, Bridge Art Fair, Preview, and Kunst Salon, and all were interesting for different reasons.
The Bridge Art Fair was the first Fair that I visited, and it was an interesting space as each gallery was housed in an apartment in the 3 blocks occupied by the event. Some of the artists were staying in the apartment with their work, and so there was an element of domesticity as you walked around a series of commercial yet relaxed environments. I attended the opening and so it was quite busy, and nice to bump in to friends on the stairs, or in an apartment with the bed just left in the middle of the room, the art placed on the walls around it. Quirky, with some really interesting works- I was particularly drawn to a series of photographs by artist Kevin Capon, represented by City Art Rooms (New Zealand); Really stark, powerful imagery.
Kevin Capon, Electroblitz-electronic insect control, 2006
I expected Art Forum to be on the same scale as Frieze in the UK; But I found it to be much more digestible, in a great space in Messe Berlin GmbH. The atmosphere was of course much more commercial than all of the other spaces, but there was a real energy to it- and some beautiful works by artists such as Jesper Just (Gallery Christina Wilson), Amalia Pica (Gallerie Diane Stigter), Chris Larson (Magnus Müller), and Alexej Meschtschanow (Klemm’s).
Jesper Just, The lonely Villa, 2004
I also saw a really interesting discussion entitled Video and Film 3-, which included Phil Collins and Jean-Conrad Lemaitre on the panel. The discussion was about the medium of video, and its position within the contemporary art market. Collectors on the panel agreed that an Art Fair was not the ideal arena to be looking to buy video art. The medium needs a controlled environment, in which the viewer has time to watch the work without distraction. It was also interesting to see what Lemaitre had to say about his collection of films and how he views them- he compared video art to etchings- they are stored away until friends come to visit, or when he has a spare afternoon. Then a big screen is put up in the living room and these films are watched at leisure. Phil Collins also made an interesting point about the installation of works once they had being bought by a collector or institution. As a video artist is easy to lose control over how each work is presented, and this can be detrimental to the work as the format and context is ultimately a crucial part of the work presented. A certain amount of control through a set of instructions given to the buyer as part of the agreement is a way to control these variables. Other factors, such as editioning works, and the pros and cons of having representation on the Internet, were discussed, and it was a really informative and interesting talk.
Preview was the emerging Art Fair, but comprised of works that were on a par with works at Art Forum in some cases. There were some really stricking works, such as Camil Tulcan’s What Makes Us Different, a really beautiful film of two dogs play fighting in a garden (Ivan Gallery). Berit Hummels film Utopia was also notable, capturing a White Tiger surrounded by a fake scene in a zoo, depicting what would be its natural environment. Another film that captivated me was shown at Kunstsalon, and was created by artist Simone Häckel, entitled Schwäne (Gehag Forum). The simple film depicted a flock of white swans that almost mimicked the movement of ballet dancers from Swan Lake - it was mesmerising and gorgeous. Work from Robert Dämming, Betina Kunstzsch, and Mirja Schellbach were also notable.
