Art Basel is a premier art fair (and arguably the world’s most prestigious) that runs for 6 days in early June in Basel every year, marking the summer reunion of the international art world. In art Basel 42, there were more than 300 galleries from 35 countries across six continents are exhibiting works by over 2,500 artists, both modern and contemporary. The Works ranged from the more affordable works by emerging artists, to museum-quality masterpieces priced in the millions. Art Basel is split into two halls. Hall 2 is where those 300 galleries have their booths, which is the main point of interest for the throng of VIP collectors who stormed through. Generally speaking, the ground floor is mainly comprised of blue chip galleries and galleries who represent the more established artists. On the first floor you get more emerging work. On the ground floor you had the likes of Gagosian, Pace, Marian Goodman, Paula Cooper, Gladstone, Feigen and Landau. On the first floor, David Zwirner, Blum & Poe, White Cube and Lisson. Hall 1, which is completely separated from Hall 2, houses Art Unlimited and Art Statements. Art Unlimited offers a 17,000 sq m hall space for artists and galleries for works that need more than the conventional gallery booth, showcasing outsized sculptures, video projections, installations, wall paintings and even performance art. Art Statements spotlights 26 single-artist projects from younger galleries worldwide, often a frequent site for the discovery of emerging artists.
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller-undergrounf installation- Entrance to the Hawaiian Tiki Bar
Amongst the many artist r represented in the Art Basel 42, One of my favorite works has was by artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, who has created an installation inside an underground old water reservoir that would normally be shut off from the public.The entrance to the reservoir is quite conspicuous. You push through some wooden doors and descend a staircase. It is very dark in there, almost pitch black as ones eyes attempts to adjust from the sunny outside. If it weren’t for people being in front of me, I might have just been too scared to keep going. After going several steps down this dark dungeon-like cave, you eventually descend into a small humid and darkly lit room. There are sounds of running and dripping water. Right in the middle of the room is… a Hawaiian tiki hut. Tropical music is also playing. The prices ranges from Warhol’s $80 million “rubs eyes” to Joseph Albers paintings for $400,000. Other works on sale includes Warhol’s Cambpell Soup boxes were going at $1.1 million each, tiny Rothko for $5 million, Louise Bourgeois’ Eye from 2001 for $2 million. Having said this though, the bulk of the sales were under the $1 million mark, as buyers opted for the younger, more challenging work. Many of the most expensive items were sold later including a Francis Bacon at $50 million. Despite this, this is evidence that the art buying frenzy of pre-2008 days are well and truly back again. Works sold within the first few minutes of the fair opening.There was also the art salon which is a series of half hour panel discussions, a cut down version of Art Conversations, which featured the various art world players and discussed issues like “The future of the physical gallery in the digital world” that featured Josh Baer, art advisor from New York and James Cohan, gallerist and founder of the VIP Art Fair discussing the role of the physical gallery in the art market. I think this is a very interesting topic that was discussed. 
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller-undergrounf installation- pathway to the Hawaiian Tiki Bar
On the issue of the politics of the art market in reference to Ai Weiwei as an example, I think it cannot be associated to all artists, but artist who also are political activist. Like Ai WSeiwei who has continuously addressed cultural and political problems in his work, the issue of the politics of art fits well with, because art speaks volume; it influences generations and cause people to act, so in his case, the governments action was not based only on the fact that he didn’t pay some taxes, it was being used as the standing point within which to retaliate for his efforts to expose political issues in the country. Also I believe that it depends greatly on the country being politically represented in the artworks of the artist and what the rules governing the country on art and artistic communication and responsibilities. Today, Chinese artists are facing multiple challenges. They have to transcend what materialistic and social gains they may have achieved to continue making social critiques an integrated aspect of their art and life. At the same time, they have to show that their works are meaningful contributions to China’s cultural history. 
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller-undergrounf installation-Hawaiian Tiki Bar