It’s that time of year again- temperatures are going down, tents are going up, and tourists are flooding in. Season’s here, and that means Art Basel is only a few short weeks away.

For most of us, trying to navigate the maze of satellite fairs and other external exhibitions can be as confusing as mortgage-based derivatives, so we’re breaking it down.

No, this isn’t a political statement. This is just a new perspective on Art Basel by the 99%, for the 99%.

The Real Art Basel

Art Basel might be one of the biggest art fairs in the world, but for the people of Miami, Art Basel means much more than that. For locals, Art Basel is a state of mind. It’s a weeklong theatre production with our stomping grounds as the stage; a mandatory vacation in our own backyard. It means partying with a sense of purpose, because all that art isn’t going to appreciate itself. It means we’re on the world stage, and it’s confirmation that we’re a first world, international city, which seems hard to believe given how small a world Miami really is.

The Real Real Art Basel

None of this, of course, would be possible without the the actual Art Basel and everyone involved in Art Week. Stay tuned for coverage of Art Basel and your favorite satellite fairs, like Burst, Verge, Scope, Art Miami, Sculpt miami, and everything else happening during Art Week 2011.

Articles in the series will be listed right here as they come up.

We hope the Occupy movement doesn’t mind our decision to co-opt their branding for this little series of ours; We totally are the 99%.