By Paddy Johnson

Easily clinching the title of Worst Art Fair Special Exhibition I've seen thus far, Art Basel's emerging artist-focused Art Positions leaves viewers with almost nothing of consequence to discuss. Back in 2002, Art Positions helped the fair gain a reputation of supporting younger galleries and artists, but it has suffered from the recent competition from all the satellite fairs. Shipping containers on the beach serve as exhibition spaces as they have in previous years. In between them this year there's a cheesy and dramatically illuminated futurific plastic architectural installation by Federico Diaz and E-Area.

Of the 20 exhibiting galleries, only two shows merit a nod: Wallspace's giant stretched multicolored rubber band installation, which is merely mediocre.


Installation by Clarie Fontaine at Art Positions. Photos: Paddy Johnson

Claire Fontaine's huge bleak blue horse Marco Cavallo and freedom texts at T293 Gallery require the most contemplation. 'Is Freedom Therapeutic?' reads red text scrawled on the wall. The question doesn't mean much until you understand the horse sculpture references a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-style breakout by patients from a mental hospital. Another freedom text asks pertinently: 'Is there any possible freedom from the market and its unreasonable rules?' (See an interview with Claire Fontaine in ArtReview magazine here.)

I have long lamented the failure of fairs to provide appropriate venues for conceptual artists, and though Art Positions managed to secure at least two, the overall weakness of the show, ensures a much smaller audience than they would have had elsewhere.

The program Art Perform, curated by Jens Hoffman, offers a few things actually worth seeing. In his performance last night, artist Jordan Wolfson mentioned a couple of artists in the schedule: Christian Jankoswki and Adriana Lara. Wolfson's original intention had been to use actors to recite an angry letter Barnett Newman wrote to Clement Greenberg in 1955, in the style of Bruce Nauman's Good Boy Bad Boy.


Jordan Wolfson delivering his speech at Art Perform

But Wolfson (whose recent exhibition at the Swiss Institute in New York is reviewed here) nixed this concept and instead delivered a highly constructed though stream-of-consciousness seeming script describing his concerns about what would have happened had he followed his original plan, and apologising profusely for being unable to carry it out. He said such an "art meta" performance would "simply draw a fatter line between the art world elite and the common spectator. And I don't believe in inside jokes at the expense of a social or ethnic demographic or anyone for that matter, especially this week, this year, this century, for the obvious reasons." However, Wolfon slipped into such specialism with ease in his reference to the Charles Ray sculpture Family Romance (1993) (a family in which the parents and children are made the same height, and link hands like a "barrier") as a comparison point with his idea of levelling out his actors' heights by having one of them stand on a rock.

He conceded another reason why he couldn't follow through with the piece he'd planned: "I am a coward, and therefore I feel inexperienced and confused in making performance." The line got a few laughs from the audience and built in some leeway for what can only be described as a contradictory, and often opaque script. It wasn't clear, for example, whether Wolfson's attempts in art school at "a constructive attack on authority" are of any consequence in this action here at Art Basel, but a few well delivered lines obscure the performance just enough that viewers might not think to ask if this is an issue.

Paddy Johnson runs Art Fag City