Hans Ulrich Obrist, Klaus Biesenbach. (Courtesy Billy Farrell)
Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist would presumably be very, very busy running two premiere centers on two sides of the Atlantic—MoMA PS1 for Klaus, Serpentine Gallery for Hans Ulrich—but somehow they have a lot of free time to Instagram. Mr. Biensenbach likes to post the view of gloomy grey New York out his window every morning, as well as selfies with James Franco. Mr. Obrist likes to post handwritten aphorisms by art world heavy weights—as well as, um, selfies with James Franco. They both have over 100,000 followers.
James Franco on Klaus Biesenbach’s Instagram (Courtesy Klaus Biesenbach’s Instagram)
Now, the two teutonic curatorial titans will bring their art fair Laurel and Hardy act to the Art Basel Miami Beach talks program, where they’ll sit on a panel in the Salon portion to talk about, you guessed it, Instagram. The panel—which also includes the inestimable gavel guy Simon de Pury, artist Amalia Ulman, and Instagram co-founder (!) Kevin Systrom—will take place on Thursday, and bears the wonderful title of “Instagram as an Artistic Medium.” Am I going to be there? Reader, I’m already choosing my filter.
You may recall the dynamic duo of Klaus+Hans Ulrich has discussed the social media app of choice before, including at Art Basel, where I had the pleasure of hearing little banter like this:
“There was this moment where the mirror was replaced by the camera,” said Mr. Obrist.
“I could never think I could take a picture and show it to people but now with social media, I can,” said Mr. Biesenbach.
“You mean selfies,” said Mr. Obrist.
“Yes, the selfie,” said Mr. Biesenbach.
“There are so many selfies now. Take Dominique’s piece. What do you do when you see a mirror? You make a selfie!” said Mr. Obrist.
James Franco on Hans Ulrich Obrist’s Instagram. (Courtesy Hans Ulrich Obrist’s Instagram)
Mr. Obrist also mentioned that when he first met Mr. Systrom, he forgot to take a selfie with him. Well, now’s your chance, Hans Ulrich.
For the full schedule of the talks program at Art Basel Miami Beach—which also includes what’s going to be an awesome conversation with Lynda Benglis as the Premiere Artist Talk—check out the fair’s website.
