Art Basel

I suppose when you are having too much fun to write about the fun you are having, then you are really having a good time.  In Manchester “Il Tempo del Postino” was a work in progress and Matthew Barney’s piece dominated the show and the press (the appearance of naked women usually has that affect).  But here in Basel, Barney chose to do a very benign musical presentation. Because of this, the show has become a very viable piece of theatre/performance art. It really does work in energy and pace. Most of the kinks have been ironed out.  All this to say that it is not as exciting back stage as it was in Manchester (the absence of naked women usually has that affect).

The fun part comes off stage.  Because we have all worked together before, this show has become a family.  There is an old Chestnut in showbiz that goes, “We arrived, we worked, we loved, we left.”  It speaks to the nature of performing together in a show.  You get very close, very fast because there is always a closing night. Feelings for fellow performers seem to concentrate with the run of the show.

The Basel theatre has a lunchroom/cafeteria the next floor down from the dressing rooms, or in Swiss German “Garderobes”.  It’s like being in the commissary of the old MGM studio.  All the performers would gather there for coffee and snacks before the show.  In addition we are all stayed at the same hotel where breakfast was gratis for guests.  We all compared notes from the night before as we straggled into the breakfast room for orange juice.  It was great to check in with everyone in the morning, share plans and prospects for the day.

Some of the interesting characters in the show are: the auctioneers who are just that, professional auctioneers. They’re all from the South Carolina area, friends and extremely funny “good ole boys (and a couple of girls)” They are a continuous source of laughter. Their southern accent and attitude was an absolute novelty to the Swiss, everyone loved them.

Then there is John and Sarah who are the actors inside costume body puppets for one of the pieces.  Both from Britain, John is almost 8 feet tall and Sarah is just under 4 feet tall.  John would reach the coffee cups for Sarah and Sarah would tell John what the weather was like on earth.

The “Butterflies” were 8 Asian women opera singers.  Some spoke more English than others.  One told me that she didn’t realize when we were in Manchester that I was doing the voice she heard.  She thought it was a recording.  It was a compliment of the highest order for a ventriloquist.

The “musicians” were a rag tag group of guitar players who participated in the musical Barney piece. For this event they played a very small four stringed Greek instrument with a round body.  Although I forget the name as soon as they tell me, it is an instrument almost no on plays anymore. They learned to play it for the show. 

Then there are the artists. Some stood out in the way they dressed, some by their attitude and some would be over looked entirely in a crowd.  Romdan, the artist who designed the costumes, was always “dressed” in character.  For two days he wore exactly the same outfit. His hair cut in a 30’s style with a sever a part down the side, a Charlie Chaplin/Adolph Hitler mustache, green sweater vest half buttoned, a coat that was a little to tight to come together in the front, pant legs rolled up to his mid calf , ballet slippers and no socks. He was a “site” in every way my mother ever used the word.

The main way to look like an “Art Basel Artist” is to carry a Macintosh under your arm at all times.  Their computers function like medication must hast to be taken every few minutes.  They are never far from a place to plug in and recharge and exchange zip drives at a moments notice.  I know for sure that the international “Art set” is a Mac. The more successful the artist the newer the Macintosh they possess.  Don’t think you can be a poser with a Dell, it’s just not done.

All in all this version of “Il Temp del Postino” was civilized and G rated. These stories will not take the place of the first incarnation for sheer insanity. There is one interesting footnote. In the Art Basel main art exhibition there hangs a 5 x 8 foot picture of me standing behind the magnifying glass.  It is a piece of art Philippe Perreno created from Manchester.  This image has become the icon for “Il Temp del Postino” and was printed on the back of every Art Basel program. After going to the main Art exhibition in Basel the South Carolina auctioneers said to me in their distinctive accents, “Jaaay, yore a piece of Arrt at that Gallery show.”  Indeed that image is for sale to the art conscious public.

I have forgotten exactly how I got involved in this project and with this group of artists, but I am grateful it happened. My artistic soul grows every time I am around them.  It is just another example of how blessed I am.

In my next life I think I want to repeat this one.

As you were,

Jay