Art Basel Conversations: Clara Wu Tsai and Paul Pfeiffer Ask Whether Stadiums Are the New Art Institutions

Art Basel Miami Beach's Conversations program has always been one of the most underutilized free resources during Art Week — serious discussions with serious people, open to the public, no ticket required. This year's lineup includes a panel that is worth planning around.

Clara Wu Tsai — businesswoman, philanthropist, and owner of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty — joins artist Paul Pfeiffer for a conversation moderated by Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director, Serpentine). The question on the table: Are today's stadiums tomorrow's art institutions?

Wu Tsai has been commissioning contemporary art at Barclays Center and establishing artist residencies — a genuine attempt to use a professional sports arena as a platform for cultural production rather than just entertainment. Paul Pfeiffer is the arena's inaugural artist-in-residence, and his work has long examined the dynamics of sporting spectacle and mass media. His collaboration with Shaun Leonardo — Exodus, a yearlong media workshop offering local participants behind-the-scenes access to live events — is the kind of program that blurs the line between institution and venue.

Pfeiffer's practice is well-suited to this conversation. Known for his manipulation of digital media, he recasts the visual language of mass media spectacle to examine how images shape our awareness of ourselves and the world. A major retrospective recently traveled from MOCA Los Angeles to the Guggenheim Bilbao to MOCA Chicago.

The conversation takes place in the Auditorium (Grand Ballroom), Level 2 North, Miami Beach Convention Center. Free and open to the public; booking recommended via the Art Basel app. Doors open 10 minutes before the event.