The 11 Stages of Your First Art Basel
Attending the world’s leading art fair for the first time is certainly an experience that is hard to forget – some would even go as far as to compare it with a marathon (with all due respect for the marathon runners out there). Here, we guide you to the 11 emotional stages you should expect during your first Art Basel to get you prepared for the mental ups and downs during the “26.2-mile” trek.
Art Basel runs from June 14 to 17, 2018.
1) Excitement
You have paid the registration fee and put in countless hours of preparation. You are #soready to kick this Art Basel booty.
2) Nervousness
It is the night before/morning of Art Basel and you are a bundle of nerves. Have you done enough preparation? Where is my ‘How To Art Basel’ bibel? I really want to just finish. Dear God, please let me finish.
3) Eagerness
As you are waiting (for what seems like an eternity) for the fair to begin, the third stage sets in: “Let’s get this show on the road! The sooner we start, the sooner I finish…”
4) Community
Art Basel has finally started and throngs of art fair goers are moving in unison toward the cathedral. You all are in it together – whether the others know it or not.
5) Questioning of Sanity
Stage five usually sets in around mile 15 and you. are. tired. “What on earth could have possibly attracted me to the thought of attending Art Basel?”
6) Happiness
And then you find out why… the moment when you stand face to face with a piece of art that changes your world forever. You reach a level of complete happiness: “Art Basel high”!
7) Defeat
However, Art Basel life can be a rollercoaster. Happiness comes in small doses and if that one piece you had your eyes on just got sold, defeat may set in. At this stage, you may consider simply sitting down with a glass of wine…
8) Prayer
Whether you are religious or not, you find someone or something to ask for help. “If you’ll promise that I won’t die, I won’t curse for the next year.”
9) Determination/Willpower
The willpower stage sets in as you get closer to the ‘finish line’. You have already come this far, seen so many artworks, guzzled so many glasses of champagne – there is no turning back now.
10) Elation
Stage 10 comes on the millisecond after you cross the finish line. You are so happy that you forget all negativity and all self-doubt. You could maybe even stay for some extra days if you needed to.
11) Exhaustion
The final stage provides the satisfaction that you have done what you set out to do and can wear your hangovers as a badge of honor. You will be sore for days and not walk straight for a few more. But you, my friend, are an ‘Art Baseler’.
Source: Active