Art Basel Miami Beach | Interview with Ai Weiwei

 

“Bubble” installation by Ai Weiwei.

Of the public art works at this year’s fair, Ai Weiwei’s “Bubble,” a sprawling installation on the lawns of Watson Island, comprising 100 blue porcelain orbs (each is about 20 inches tall and about 30 inches in diameter), is arguably the standout. We caught up with the Chinese artist and provocateur.

What are the difficulties of producing a project of this size?
Firstly, it’s not easy to find a space like this — one that is near water, and has such different lighting throughout the day. As for the material, I found a place in China that used to make porcelain for the emperors, using a technique that’s almost disappeared since there are no emperors these days. And, you know, each of the balls weighs about 90 pounds so bringing them here was a production.

Design Miami | Catching Up With Murray Moss

Studio Job, Bavaria Screen, 2008, (Courtesy of Moss Gallery, New York)

As the annual cultural circus pitches its tents again in Miami, we caught up with the retail impresario Murray Moss to talk about the state of the design industry.

First, the fun question: How’s business?

Moss: I think of us as having multiple businesses. The market for gifts, accessories, jewelry, watches — it’s definitely down, although I’m hoping that this is just the lull before the holiday storm — which is starting later this year. Weirdly, for our registry and tabletop, we’re on target. And people who are building houses or renovating apartments come in and buy things like big bathtubs, or Swarovski’s Blossom chandelier. Art [limited-edition design art] right now is dead. And when we went to Basel in June [the Design Miami Basel show], we did better than we’ve ever done.