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03/03/2006: "DILEMMA"
You know that you're deep in the art forest when conflicts and dilemmas
spring to life.
Like sneering weeds in the Victory Garden, dilemmas snake their way into our
day, promising confusion and loss.
Such is the case in my life of late. A dilemma graying over my art horizon.
It started when I got a few days off from work for the beginning of March.
"Great," I thought. "I'll use those days to go to ArteAmericas." "I've
been working hard. I need time off to enjoy!"
ArteAmericas is the Latin American Art Fair held each year in Miami,
Florida. It's relatively new and I've been really wanting to visit. This
trip would be a special treat given my great love for Latin American art
which always seems exciting and progressive. I really think that in some
ways, Latin American art is pushing all contemporary art forward.
ENTER CONFLICT, STAGE RIGHT.
ArteAmericas is on the VERY SAME WEEKEND as the opening of Whitney Biennial
2006 in New York City. Complicating matters, New York is hosting a couple
of other cool art fairs that weekend and a couple of my new "art friends"
will also be visiting New York that weekend. It would be nice to see them.
UGH!
It's tough because for art lovers, New York City is always a good idea.
It's my hometown. There's so much culture and so much art to see. You
don't have to even consider buying anything. Just go gallery hopping! Of
course, the downside is that March in New York is not for the fainthearted.
It'll be COLD. Another reason why I wanted to visit Miami is the great
weather. Although this winter hasn't been that cold here in the midwest, I
still feel like I need to be thawed by a tropical sun and warmed up by the
sight of hot babes romping on the beach. That alone is a great picture for
an art collector's eyes!
One of the positive things (I guess) about dilemmas and conflicts is that
they inherently carry the blessing of CHOICE. You cannot have a dilemma
without THIS clashing with THAT. Also, conflict usually means you have to
do THIS or THAT. Pick your poison ... or in my case, passion. I've found
that conflicts and dilemmas involve, for the most part, issues of lifestyle
and not livelihood. That's where the blessing comes in. If deciding
whether to visit New York City or Miami is my biggest problem this year,
then I'm definitely doing okay. Perhaps I'm also spoiled. Spoiled by art!
This is what art has done to me.
There are people starving in Somalia (not a conflict or dilemma, that's a
REAL PROBLEM) and I'm concerned about where my next art trip will be!
Although I'm thankful that I'm an American and I'm not starving, it also
seems unfair somehow.
Ultimately, whether I visit Miami or New York doesn't really matter. Maybe
I'll just stand in front of a map, close my eyes and point at the map.
Whichever city my finger is closest to will be my next art trip. I'm far
from rich, but I'm certainly privileged. This is what art has done to me.
I'll remember that the next time I'm gallery hopping.
MICHAEL CORBIN IS A WRITER AND AVID ART COLLECTOR
