Published: Wednesday, 18 December 2024

After a week of embodying the mind, body and spirit of a seal pup with a pina colada (video below), I found myself in the middle of an art deco watering hole at Art Basel Miami.

As the art world descended onto The 305 (i.e.'the Latin New York', aka Miami, Florida) to close out the 2024 season, you would not notice that attendance was apparently down by several thousand compared to last year: in contrast to some of the gloom in the art market earlier this year, Miami was buzzing. There were incredible pieces that were humorous, thought-provoking and profound, as well technically staggeringly impressive (like a painting made of razor blades?!).

This is not a ‘what sold at Art Basel Miami 2024’ retrospective; you can find excellent summaries here and here. Instead, I want to talk with you about something different: the Mimetic Theory of Desire (fancy!), because watching how people experience art can be as interesting as the art itself. Then, we will examine a few of the artworks that drew a crowd (and me), because looking at art is cool and fun and I enjoy sharing art with you.

Mimetic Theory

Art fairs, especially the big ones, are extravaganzas. They are about the art: there were 286 galleries in Miami, each displaying around a dozen works from multiple artists in a multitude of mediums and styles, carefully arrayed across a massive conference hall.

They are also 'about the art': along with genuine artistic appreciation, there are multiple layers of commercialisation, performance, and social positioning, with multiple hierarchies of VIP, V-VIP and V-V-VIP (I'm not joking: there was a V-VIP lounge inside of the VIP lounge, even on the 'First Choice' access day where only VIPs could attend... very 'Inception', dreams within dreams).

Above all, art fairs are about The Crowd. That's the primary purpose of the logistics and financing of a venture at this scale: bringing large groups of people together for art celebration and profit.

Some of it, I'm sure, is the serious dollars involved: the big money sales tend to be during the pre-viewing days on Wednesday and Thursday. However, some of it is also that people are serious because they see other people being serious (and vice versa). A similar effect was noticeable when crowds formed around certain artworks or galleries: other guests (me included) were drawn towards areas where others gathered.

Girard's idea proposes that all desire is merely an imitation of another's desire, and the desire only occurs because others have deemed said object as worthwhile. A desirable object is only desired because of societal ideas, i.e. it is not based on personal preference. The framing is triangular, based on the subject, model, and object. In Girard's words: 'Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.'

That's a little rude, to be honest. I'm a strong, independent thinker who arrives at my own.... Oooooh.

Am I though?

As much as we like to imagine how much we are independent thinkers, immune to the opinions and desires of others, we cannot help but be social animals swimming in social waters. Unlike Girard, I firmly believe there is also room for personal taste, individual autonomy and authentic expression. On the other hand, something being popular only because it is popular would certainly explain most of the TikTok dances?

Mimesis also explains a decent amount of what you see at an art fair. To be kind, some of that is practicality: with hundreds of artworks to choose in limited time, it's an efficient heuristic to follow people who look like they know what they're doing.

Some of this is actively orchestrated by the organisers: at Frieze London, the emerging galleries were given prominence to encourage crowds to herd that way. Whereas in Miami, the blue-chip galleries were attractively placed in the center (by the food court, not a coincidence!) to stimulate flocking in that direction.

Mimesis is certainly a tool of the galleries, who are not shy about using status, insecurity, exclusivity, celebrity artists, and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to encourage sales.

Okay, that's the end of my Ted Talk, lol. I cannot claim to be immune to the mimetic effect, but it's certainly fun to watch the crowd and try to understand how and why it moves like it does.

Now, let’s put the textbooks away, and take a closer look at some of the cool art from Art Basel Miami.

Barbara Kruger's Pledge, Will, Vow

At first glance, Kruger's work looks like it was done in recent years. The politically charged and progressive atmosphere targets three popular speeches conditioned in society: the US Pledge of Allegiance, marriage vows, and last will and testament. It was actually completed in 1988, although the three channel video installation was an upgrade in 2020. The video (shown below) is a significant enhancement of the work, featuring each paragraph of text steadily typed out with provocative alternate phrasing.

Kruger is associated with the Pictures Generation—a loose cohort of Conceptual artists concerned with the critical analysis and dissemination of mass-media culture. Her bold use of red and white may look familiar to fashionistas, because the clothing brand Supreme adopted her iconic style for their logo. She states that through her declarative statements and vernacular photography she tries to make work 'that joins the seductions of wishful thinking with the criticality of knowing better.’

Her work certainly attracted crowds at Art Basel Miami, through a combination of message/artistic impact, and strategic display. Its location on the outside wall of the Spruth Magers booth increased the visibility to visitors casually walking by, while the sharp typewriter key audio was ear-catching. The video is roughly 3 minutes long, so depending on their interest, and patience, groups of roughly 1-20 would gather at any given point in time, and (through mimesis!) attract further crowds.

It is intriguing and fascinating to see which speech and its revision attracts people. For example, when the Pledge of Allegiance portion was playing, some people just kept walking, but when the marriage vows section began, many stopped to watch and finish the rest of the series. I would love to see the demographic stats of who stopped to observe which piece.

Glenn Ligon's Self-Portrait

Here is an interesting case of an artwork that is eye-catching, loaded with a profound message in an artistic style worthy to ignite crowds for this reason alone. However, it certainly felt like most of the initial attention it received was due to a certain British Royal working nearby (Princess Eugenie works for gallery Hauser & Wirth).

Regardless of why the crowd appeared, the piece itself was strong enough to receive an immense amount of praise once examined. The most popular commentary on the piece included, ‘I absolutely love that!’ *said in my best Miami accent*, so it is no surprise this work is joining a museum collection.

Since the 1980’s, Glenn Ligon has pursued an incisive exploration of American history, literature, and society through his work that builds upon the legacies of modern and conceptual art. He is known for his landmark text-based paintings, which draw from the influential writings and speeches of 20th-century cultural figures like James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Genet, and Richard Pryor.

Hauser & Wirth describe his art as a practice that ‘demonstrates the ways in which a given subject has permeated culture over time, magnetising our attention to the mutability of images and our perceptions of them. His questions concern not only the identity of his subject. He interrogates the viewer, the history, the institution, and the cultural context by rendering a portrait of America as a concept, a place, and a nation.'

Jennifer Steinkamp's From, the Future 2

This animation you can watch here, like the Barbara Kruger, was displayed on the external walls of the Spruth Magers booth overlooking one of the ‘plazas’, so onlookers could easily be mesmerised by its trance-like quality. The animation consists of cut flowers continuously falling from the sky. Genuinely I could look at this for hours and get lost in time. The people I saw in the crowd surrounding this work had the same look on their face. The sheer size of the piece (it covered most of a ten foot wall) allowed the viewer to feel immersed in the experience of flowers falling all around them.

She is a leader in digital animation and among the first to experiment with constructing imagery—including colour, texture, and movement—by wholly digital means. Her work examines the natural environment as it engages with art historical genres such as 16th century Dutch still-life painting, scientific illustrations, and nature photography. By simulating natural movement in cycles that are at once familiar yet entirely unique, Steinkamp conjures the uncanny impression of artificial life that is both rooted in past modes of representation while looking, with optimism, towards the future. Steinkamp’s works are displayed as site-specific projections that amplify their architectural setting by blurring the boundary between real and illusionistic space. Due to the convention centre’s design of concrete floors, lack of sunlight, and dark ceiling, the piece contributed an ethereal and natural quality that the convention centre was desperately lacking.

According to one of the gallery’s associates, Steinkamp’s series, From, the Future, was inspired by a dream in which the artist told a scientist she was from the future and was believed. Steinkamp’s interpretation of the dream relates to her interest in the luminous thoughts of the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, who describes the human soul as beautiful, sacred, and beyond time. Steinkamp is fascinated by the existential impermanence of beauty, and believes beauty offers us a deep connection to the experience of life. The title infers the signature on the note of a gift. Perfect for the holiday season.

Harumi Klossowska de Rola's Ame-no-kaku (Stag)

When I say a celebrity can draw a crowd, I don't just mean the everyday celebrity attending the fair for their own interests. I also mean celebrity artists whose work is displayed at the fair. It is not a secret tactic that galleries and exhibition curators will use these celebrity artists to boost the popularity, and attract an audience to an adjacent work by a potentially lesser known artist. When executed well this technique creates a beautiful dialogue between pieces. While many instances of this occurred at the fair, we are going to focus on one in particular. To me, it was interesting to see the evolution in the reception of this artist's work shift throughout the week.

At Acquavella, sculptures by artist Harumi Klossowska de Rola were displayed alongside Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. The sculptures are truly energized, exceptional, and radiating with the spirit of the artist. As you can imagine many flocked to capture the large scale Picasso painting immediately to the sculpture’s left. Even shouting to their friends ‘oh did you see the Picasso!?’

But in all honesty the stag was far more interesting than the Picasso. It was different and an unlikely pairing in the chosen display, but there was more of a gravitational pull to the stag. Immediately to the stag’s right was a diamond dust painting by Andy Warhol (not pictured, but yes it was made with actual diamond dust, and yes, it sparkled). Here you have this gorgeously calm yet invigorating sculpture sandwiched between two artists whose ethos when it came to producing and selling art couldn’t be more opposite. I'm not saying the Warhol and Picasso were bad: they were beautiful, and it’s great to see a large scale Picasso not in a museum setting and a Warhol that isn’t soup cans or Marilyn Monroe.

Harumi is exceptional and doesn’t need Picasso to elevate her status in my opinion; however, for profit and attracting attention to increase the probability of sales this technique is something I reluctantly accept.

Conclusion

Art Basel Miami was a special experience, and like any great party had all the essentials: great company, high quality alcohol (and coffee! Thank You, Samsung Lounge!), and pretty things to admire. Learning how the crowd ebbed and flowed was educational, and I also enjoyed watching how the fair evolved over five days... artistic tastes and desires constantly change, and so did the fair itself. The artworks were spectacular; we only had room to discuss a few pieces, but my phone is filled with pictures of dozens more artworks that were thrilling.

Especially at an international art fair like this, and if you're seriously considering purchasing works, always keep the mimetic theory in mind. Don't make the mistake of desiring a piece because you followed the crowd. I remind my clients (and myself!) to develop and trust their own taste and desires, and to test if their desire is innate or a reflection of the crowd.

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