Reflecting on Art Basel Paris and Paris Art Week (16th–20th October), I’ve been returning to the idea of set and setting. It’s a term used for psychedelic drug use – set being one’s mindset and setting being the physical environment – but fitting for perceiving art, too. If set and setting are off, the experience can be jarring; if right, it’s conducive to an enriching encounter.
In Paris, the set was the optimism and hyperdrive on the heels of a successful Frieze paired with a pre-winter boost before vitamin D levels dip into doom and gloom (and, generally, people are excited to visit Paris). The setting: the walkable city, less disgruntled and cleaner than usual in its post-Olympics glow, filled with art events in whatever-Google-maps-says reach with the grandeur of Art Basel Paris at the Grand Palais as the pinnacle moment.
Let's stay in touch (intellectually).
selection of articles, interviews, blogs et al.
For years, Vipoo Srivilasa has created blue and white ceramics, only to veer away from the palette during lockdown. Now, for an exhibition at Bunjil Place Gallery titled Generation Clay: Reimagining Asian Heritage, he embraces the aesthetic once again, with other artists in tow.
Reflecting on Art Basel Paris and Paris Art Week (16th–20th October), I’ve been returning to the idea of set and setting. It’s a term used for psychedelic drug use – set being one’s mindset and setting being the physical environment – but fitting for perceiving art, too. If set and setting are off, the experience can be jarring; if right, it’s conducive to an enriching encounter.
For some reason, Art-o-Rama – an art fair in the southern French city of Marseille – has three Google reviews, including a one-star labelling it for “pseudo fashion intellectuals” and those “armed with easy money”.