Ted Noten designed Prada Purse; Gold-plated gun, cast in acrylic, hangbag; Ornamentum Gallery; 506 Warren Street; Hudson, NY – Photo by ArtObserved

We already knew that Basel was downsizing: this year, little known French pop princess Yelle is replacing leathery icon Iggy Pop in Art Loves Music, sponsor UBS reported its first quarterly loss in 5 years, liquor sales are down 20%, and many people including key investors simply decided not to come. Yet if indeed the art bubble is popping, we thought at least there would be a ‘bang’ to talk about; instead, if Tuesday is any judge, one can surmise that the ostentatious, fun ego of Miami Basel and sister satellite Fairs will instead deflate in a slow, lackluster manner this year.

At the premier Design Miami’s Vernissage, though the champagne was still flowing and VIPs sauntered in freely, visually there appeared to be drop in attendance from last year and the overall sentiment seemed rather quiet and demure. (Is everyone in fiscal mourning or is it simply sticker-shock?) Also, few of the displays were as buzz-worthy like 2007 Designer of the Year Tokujin Yoshioka’s crisp  airy hamster nest of straws that put Dash Snow and Dan Colen’s art bum hamster nests to shame. Since Designers of the year The Campana Brothers’ whimsical, stuffed animal chairs are ubiquitous around the design world these days, while their influence is strong especially in terms of environmental sustainability, their various displays arguably may not challenge the future of art design as many of past winners have (i.e. Zaha Hadid, Marc Newson, etc).

Words & Photos By Faith-Ann Young

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