Taking a night train from Ulm, Germany to Amsterdam is actually a pretty good choice. If you have earplugs and can sleep in the adult equivalent of a baby-safe, that is. I also admit that a flask of Green Label and the entire Doors catalog on the MP3 player of your choice are a great help.

After nine hours of pretty sound sleep, I arrive on the construction site, pardon me, Amsterdam Centraal. Crossing the street to get a completely useless 48hrs pass for the local transport (useless thanks to the VIP shuttle service I can use with my badge) and then into the first available tourist joint for a pancake and some coffee. The weather is sweet.

On the tram to RAI, the fair location, I see not a single poster advertising the fair. Reaching the construction site, pardon me, the fair areal, I see the first big poster. Fortunately I don’t head for it, but follow a dude with a beard and an “Art-Amsterdam-coloured” badge, because the actual fair is quite a walking distance from the location of the poster.

The VIP desk is subtly placed, or hard to find, which ever you prefer, the staff is busy but friendly. “Here is your badge. It’s a bit flimsy, so be careful.” It is, so I am.

Leaving the VIP package and my bag, I enter the fair proper, taking a first quick stroll around the outer perimeter before I have to attend the first meeting. What I see is visually pleasing and caters to my tastes. Dutch fairs seem to have that ability, Rotterdam felt similar.

I end up talking to Petra Nostheide Eycke (of the same → gallery) about the work of Mark Kramer (→ link) that I find mesmerizing:

See larger versions at my flickr account (→ link)

I will end up not buying it because it’s what I call “dead end art”. It doesn’t mean I think it’s bad, it just doesn’t leave me with any questions. It doesn’t inspire me. I dig the look. But I’m not looking for decoration.

Leaving my meeting and the discussions during the Collectors’ Program to another entry in this journal, I progress …

Continuing my stroll through the fair, I see more stuff that I like. And also a lot of things that make me check if I have my glasses on. I do. Then I check if it’s a Gerhard Richter. Turns out: The art is blurred on purpose. I make a note to come back the next day and take pictures of all the motion blur, gaussian blur and what have you. Here is a selection:

See more evidence at my flickr account (→ link)

Continuing I can’t miss the ghost in the carpet. Nice floor work throughout the fair, by the way. Keep your head down:

Larger version is available. (→ link)

Visual highlights include this artwork which is completely devoid of axes:

(“Personality Disorder”, Arik Levy)

And across the aisle, there is an untitled sculpture by Super A (clocking in at roughly 28.000 EUR) that could either be an Isaac Asimov memorial or be called “The Dude”. If neither rings a bell with you, I hope you have other stuff to make you smile.

The “train lag” starts to hit me shortly after 6pm and I head out towards the shuttle service. No Citroen in sight. I consult with the VIP desk. The friendly girl tries to tell me where the taxis are. I know where the taxis are, I want to use the VIP shuttle. “Are you VIP?” she asks. My cheap H&M hat, t-shirt, washed out jeans and scruffy beard don’t seem to convince her. Flashing the VIP badge does. “Oh, you are VIP.” Yes, sorry.

I wait for the car. The driver is a young guy, studies marketing. That late in the afternoon, I’m the fourth person he drives. The hotel is cute. My room a tight fit. I decide against going online and head out for some beer and some döner. It was not very good. But you can’t have everything …

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 2:23 pm and is filed under The Circus.