Zeitgeistlyrik: Aesthetic Escapism
Satis Shroff
June 21, 2010
Opened her doors,
A big happening in Helvetia´s Basle,
For the forty first time.
A nexus for art connoisseurs,
Worshippers, gallerists, hipsters,
Stars and starlets,
Very important persons,
Not so important persons,
Artists and dabblers,
Praising their extravagant love
Of art.
Art talks in trendy taverns,
To celebrate ten galleries.
Ten artists even depicted
Basle´s cathedral, the ferry
And Vater Rhine
In their art projects:
Sans agonies and trauma of war
In Irak, Kirgistan, Afghanistan,
Sans oil spills and animals dying,
Sans natural calamities.
Pure escapism,
Beauty, taste and art,
Away from the gruesome reality.
Aesthetic flight
In the realm of fantasy,
The works of 2500 artists and sculptors.
To see
And be seen,
From Wednesday till Sunday
In July.
The founder of Art Basel,
Ernst Beyeler died with 88.
What he left behind,
Became the Olym of the art world.
Money and art,
The parallel worlds
Of Alicja Kwade.
A creation of some,
The whims of others.
A Picasso picture
Sold for eleven million euros.
A beautiful work of Marc Quinn´s
´Bloke With a Cigar´ done in gold,
Was the central figure.
Vienna´s Werner Oskar Jilge
Posed as a living solar lantern.
T293 was a delight
With two retro loudspeakers,
Orange tubes and a box
Mounted on metal legs,
Done by Alberto Tadiello.
Hall Number One
Had exhibits
Of fifty-six world artists.
Gigantic video installations,
Sergio Prego´s blown-up sculpture.
That was Art Unlimited.
The exhibits have been returned,
To their respective owners,
Others have changed hands.
What remains is the good taste
Of aesthetic escapism.
Creative guys don´t fall down
The social gutter,
Lingers the motto.
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