I managed to get to Beyond the Border: International Contemporary Art Fair, San Diego, this afternoon, mainly because it was ten minutes from my house. I knew it would be essentially a market place for wealthy collectors, - not just a fun place for voyeurs like me. I didn't expect to be so exhausted from swinging between enjoying looking and feeling like a misfit outsider to the commercial side of things.
One of the most exciting exhibits was an installation called ReEnvisioning A World Beyond Borders. An entire room was filled with a mobile phone digital photo installation, with large screens and multiple monitors. See the entries at http://www.flickr.com/photos/reenvisioning2009/sets! A great concept, with participation from all countries. The room was also a quiet refreshing place to sit down, rest, and enjoy images that didn't have a price. The kind of images that were posted more than counterbalanced the Mazeratis parked in front of the posh hotel, hoping to find buyers.
PEACES was an exhibit by Debby and Larry Kline combining video and installation, dramatically documenting the creation and destruction of peace in 3 minutes and 32 seconds. It captures the hope and the tears, and hits you in the gut. I'll think of it when I watch the news and read the newspaper.
May artists make a living from their work. May gallery owners survive in these tough times, and thrive enough to take risks on emerging artists. May artists continue to find alternative exhibition spaces outside the conventional gallery system. And may PEACES find it's ultimate home in the right museum where it will be seen by many.
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