Few events at Art Basel Miami Beach start before 11 A.M., so that everyone can recover from the previous evening's partying.
On Tuesday night, before the fair opened for big collectors and VIPs at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Wednesday morning, the big event was the opening of the exhibition “Bill Viola: Liber Insularum†at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. Guests arrived by bus, taxi and limo, and many made their way to one of Mr. Viola's best known works, “The Raft,†a 2004 piece that had particular resonance for northeasterners in the crowd who had lived through Hurricane Sandy before coming south.
The video starts with a large group of people - Asian, black, white, old, young, in business and casual attire - standing together and waiting, as if for a bus. As one person riffles through a pocketbook, another reads a book, a nd a third stares into space; without warning, gushes of water slam into them from both sides. The torrent then stops as suddenly as it began. Recorded with high-speed film, this drama unfolds over several minutes in slow motion, revealing each person's reaction - shock, anguish, bewilderment, relief and concern for those around them.
Successive rounds of visitors who were walking through the darkened rooms broke out in applause at the video's conclusion.
With a guard closely monitoring access to the exhibition as the night wore on, the museum's galleries functioned as a quiet refuge from the mob packed into the outdoor party. There was barely room to air kiss while waiting on line for a paper cup filled with pasta or a bagged sandwich. (More experienced attendees had filled up on oysters, shrimp and crab legs at the official welcome reception that Art Basel and the City of Miami hosted at the Raleigh Hotel earlier in the evening.) The only food station there th at seemed to remain untouched by the Size 0 galleristas tottering on spiked platform heels was serving dessert.
“Ancestors,†an example from Mr. Viola's latest body of work, was also on display. This vertical video shows a couple walking through a shimmering desert toward the viewer as if emerging from a mirage. Other pieces from this series could be found elsewhere at the fair, and the artist will be speaking at the convention center on Friday.
