Art Basel: at Art Basel, the artworks can seem--quite literally--over your head and, in fact, the massive installations make it one of the world's most popular art shows. Ahead of the June 15-20 exhibition at Messe Basel, Swiss News looks at what's new this year.

Art Basel typically draws 50,000 people--and not just for the big names like Picasso, Matisse and Warhol, but also for an almost-overwhelming offering by 1,500 lesser-known artists from across the world.

Competition for display space is fierce among artists and galleries. Only 270 galleries are selected to exhibit from more than 850 who apply, and it's a privilege for which each can expect to pay more than SFr 400 per square metre. What with rapid-fire deals and spinoff business, you could say Art Basel merits the apt observation by Artnet columnist Joe La Placa at last year's show that this. indeed, is 'where cash and catharsis collide.'

Larger than life 

But for the visitor, it's more about eye candy than deal-making. Larger-than-life pieces are everywhere, and sometimes the title paints its own picture. Approaching a cluster of exhibition halls by the courtyard, we pass a smash-up of a car and trailer--jack-knifed as if they fell from the sky. By Elmgreen and Dragset, the title is: Short Cut.

Towering over the square is Paul McCarthy's Bound to Fail, a blow-up version of a Henry Moore torso that reportedly cost the equivalent of SFr 390,000 to create for a New York City museum biennial.

Not to be forgotten are the house and car built of some obscure fat-like material, a life-sized guard tower and a public toilet--Monica Bonvicini's, Don't Miss a Sec--which is a one-way mirror-glass cube with a working toilet and sink inside. Sitting inside, you can see out but peepers will see only themselves. For this very-private privy, you would pay SFr 200,000.

The rarely-predictable Atelier Van Lieshout, based in The Netherlands, last year presented Wombhouse, a massive womb with a view that was fully equipped as a comfy bedroom with a wet bar and stereo in an ovary. This year, the atelier has gone with a variation on the theme of 'body habitation,' with a work it calls Bar Rectum.

And that brings to mind an amazing thing about Art Basel. People create huge art installations all over the world, somehow pack them on a transport truck or plane, and bring them to Switzerland. There are at least 60 oversized creations like these, an unsually generous offering for any international show.

Artists' books

Of course, relatively few of the 5,000 pieces would fill a cargo hold. Last year, one artist leaving his mark was tattoo master Dr. Lakra, represented by a gallery from Mexico City. His Untitled (Emana) sold to an unnamed institution for SFr 11,000.

Films, photography, sculpture and paintings comprised the vast majority of artworks. In a film installation, a prisoner played piano in handcuffs. Zurich gallery owner Eva Presenhuber featured the work of Sylvie Fleury, whose feather boas, Dark and Deep, were priced from SFr 7,700 to SFr 30,000. Her (Gold) Fountain PKW was a smoking golden tire, transformed into the base of a trickling fountain. One of a series of five, this example at Art Basel 2004 sold for SFr 54,000.

New this year is a presentation of artists' books, demonstrating the 'diversity and vitality of an interesting and affordable collecting area,' say organisers who spoke to Swiss News. Artists' books have had limited exposure at shows, usually because booths were too expensive and not particularly suitable for exhibiting them.

By featuring books gathered from across the world, Art Basel hopes to draw attention to 'this very quiet art form' and help it find an international audience.

The book exhibition will feature many of the artists themselves in presentations organised by Geneva curator and publisher Lionel Bovier and Basel gallery owner Diego Stampa.

Making a statement

Young artists have been gaining in popularity in recent decades, a trend that has led to an Art Basel contest just for them, called Art Statements. Held every year since 1996, it carries a cash prize of SFr 25,000.

Some artists go the extra mile to make their statement. A 2004 front-runner was an umbrella built to shield up to 16 people. Polish artist Aleksandra Mir, 37. drew the piece but also took the original umbrella all over the world to film the reactions of passers-by. To Mir, The Big Umbrella was making a statement about socialism but many people seemed to find it scary or ridiculous, she says.

Also this year, Art Basel will for the second time bring together art collectors, museum curators and artists in a series of hour-long panel discussions. Art Basel Conversations will take place every day and will be open to the public. Discussions feature prominent artists and other leading personalities of the art world, on such topics as 'artists and museum architecture' and 'art professionals who collect art.' Audiences can meet the panelists afterward.

Conversations event organiser Maria Finders says one of the most interesting discussions will focus on museums in China, slated for Saturday June 18.'

"China has committed to building 1,000 museums in the next 10 years and the challenge will lie in finding quality directors, and buying quality works of art, with everything that implies," she says.

Show director Samuel Keller says Conversations has become an important feature of Art Basel. "Professional exchange has sometimes become a victim of commercial exchange in the art world," he says.

A rich sport

High price tags might deter much of the general public from buying here, but heavy attendance signals a sustained interest in the show's unusual offerings. Art Basel, now in its 36th year, does not set prices or select merchandise, and organisers say they are taking steps to alert consumers to more affordable pieces. Artworks selling for SFr 7,800 or less--and that's one in four at the show--are marked with a yellow dot.

For more information on scheduled events check out the Art 36 Basel website at www.art.ch