art | cartier exhibition | art basel miami beach

lighting is the jewelry of a room

and, aquarium, a mobile commissioned by the fondation cartier pour l'art contemporain, designed by brazilian artist beatriz milhazes,
and crafted by cartier, was the jewel of art basel miami beach 2011.

the fondation cartier exhibited aquarium in the miami design district during art basel.

beatriz milhazes | aquarium | fondation cartier pour l'art contemporain | art basel miami beach 2011

photo by innerspace

cartier crafted the mobile from almost 15,000 carats of pearls, precious gems, and semi-precious stones, set in brass and gold vermeil.
the gems include over:

3200 carats of rubies

3200 carats of sapphires

1800 carats of turquoise

900 carats of coral

150 carats of emeralds

20 carats of diamonds

beatriz milhazes | aquarium | fondation cartier pour l'art contemporain | art basel miami beach 2011

photo by innerspace 

would you describe aquarium as jewelry?
or, sculpture?
or, decorative art?

artist beatriz milhazes

photo by art | basel | miami beach

fortunately, decorative lighting doesn't need to be crafted from precious materials to resemble...

diamonds...

dining room | donghia furniture showroom | new york NY
interior design by anita csordas

photo by architectural digest 

cascade grand luminaire | crystal and aluminum | designed by todd rugee | boyd lighting

photo by boyd lighting

 

diamants legers de cartier earrings | diamonds and white gold | cartier

photo by cartier

or, pearls...

dining room | november 2011 catalog | design within reach

photo by dwr

fun 11 pendant light | mother of pearl and steel | designed by verner panton | design within reach

photo by dwr

south sea pearl and diamond necklace | gump's

photo by gump's

rubies, 

sapphires, 

or emeralds...

dining room | private residence | southern california

architecture and interior design by newman mendro andrulaitus

 photo by california homes

 

cellula chandelier | swarovski (r) crystals and aluminum | designed by nunzia carbone and tiziano vudafieri | anthologie quartett

swarovski (r) crystals available in crystal, red, blue, or green

photos by http://www.anthologiequartett.de

ruby, diamond and 18k white gold line bracelet | asprey
sapphire, diamond and 18k white gold line bracelet | asprey
emerald, diamond and platinum line bracelet | asprey
photos by asprey

or, semi-precious stones.

dining room | september 2011 catalog | design within reach

photo by dwr

stamen pendant lights | amber, sapphire, or plum glass | designed by jeremy piles | niche modern

photos by dwr

m'ama non m'ama rings | semi-precious stones and rose gold | pomellato

photo by pomellato

you can never have too many jewels, don't you think?

art | exhibitions + spaces | art basel miami beach

you might think of art basel as an art, party, or fashion scene, but at art basel miami beach 2011, the satellite exhibitions and the public spaces were interactive and happening.

 

if you were hungry, you could visit incubation, the annual breakfast installation at the rubell family collection.
 

incubation continued new york artist jennifer rubell's exploration of the creative process through audience participation.

artist jennifer rubell | incubation | art basel miami beach 2011 | rubell family collection
photo by nowness

first, you picked up a jar of plain yogurt from the counter of the on-site yogurt lab.

photo by experiment station

then, you flavored your yogurt by holding the jar up to a ceiling dispenser that dripped honey. 

photo by innerspace

photo by t magazine

photo by the atlantic

finally, you consumed your creation!

people were also consuming the fruit from banana market/art market, a volkswagen van filled with ripened bananas that brazilian artist paulo nazareth installed in the art positions section at art basel. 

banana market/art market | paolo nazareth | art basel miami beach 2011

 photo by the atlantic

if a rusty, green vw van just isn't your favorite form of transportation, then maybe a concept vehicle is more your style.

architecting the future: buckminster fuller & lord norman foster, a design miami satellite exhibition, featured two of buckminster fuller's inventions:  the dymaxion car, an omnidirectional transport system designed in 1933, and the fly's eye dome, a geodesic dome designed in 1961. 

dymaxion car | buckminster fuller | architecting the future | design miami 2011
fly's eye dome | buckminster fuller | architecting the future | design miami 2011 | craig robins collection
photo by innerspace

two shipping containers installed on a vacant lot in the miami design district housed the exhibition.

architecting the future | exhibition installed in two shipping containers | design miami 2011
photo by innerspace

miami collector craig robins plans to reinstall the fly's eye dome in a new pedestrian plaza in the design district. 

in the art video pedestrian plaza at art basel, five viewing pods contained monitors that screened videos and films by international artists.  

viewing pods | art video section | art basel miami beach 2011
photo by innerspace

for three evenings, the films were also screened at soundscape park, the 7000 square foot outdoor projection wall at the new world center, which was designed by architect frank gehry.

but, the indoor park in the art positions section at art basel was the most popular pedestrian plaza.

indoor park | art positions section | art basel miami beach 2011
photo by the atlantic

the indoor park reminded me of green park in london...

green park | london, united kingdom
photo by wikimedia commons

or, a sunday on la grande jatte, the famous impressionist painting by georges seurat.

 

a sunday on la grande jatte | georges seurat | 1884 | the art institute of chicago

photo by the art institute of chicago

which do you prefer, public or private exhibition spaces?