They're normally given credit for initiating the Paris riots of 1968, but as far as many of today's critics are concerned, they've pretty much slipped off the historical record apart from that. Which may be what they would have wanted. As the people at the Tinguely pointed out, the Situationists' "revolutionary program included the elimination of all forms of representation, the undermining of all authority, the destruction of all symbols of power, [and] the elimination of art and all other forms of cultural spectacle." No wonder then that there's not that much to look at—mostly just letters, manifestoes, magazine articles, scribbles (literally) on the backs of envelopes, and lots of photographs and bits of video. Ironically much of the stuff that has survived is either slightly off to one side of the show’s main thrust, such as paintings by SI's predecessors the CoBrA group, or takes on a weirdly fetishistic air that guiding spirit Guy Debord (who died in 1994) would have loathed.

Speaking of Debord, he'd have been absolutely horrified to know that he and his cohorts were being discussed as a sideshow to that temple full of moneychangers up at Art Basel. On the other hand, he wouldn't have minded that his work is celebrated in what must be one of the most anarchic museums in the world. The permanent collection here consists mostly of Jean Tinguely's own work. Much of it still functions kinetically so that the general museum-like calm is periodically shattered as someone steps on an electric foot pedal and one of the artist's mechanical behemoths clanks into frenzied action. This is usually followed by a gaggle of school kids, on what I am sure must be one of the most memorable school outings, rushing around the corner to see the source of the commotion.

I was filled with sheer joy by the mega-metamatic Grosse Meta Maxi-Maxi Utopia (1987) and its warning sign that only ten people were allowed to climb on it at any one time. It's about 22-feet high and 52-feet long, a size that puts it right up there in Richard Serra territory. In appearance and spirit, however, it couldn't be more different. It has step ladders of one sort or another all over it, wheels and chains, a carousel horse on one side, a velvet curtain that opens and closes itself, and window boxes full of plastic flowers up on the top.

Wonderful. Anarchic. And full of the sort of genuinely irreverent spirit that makes a lot of the stuff in Art Basel, despite the frequent pretentiousness, seem terribly genteel and, I'm afraid, a bit boring. Thinking about the typical fare at "the big fair," Debord's plan to undermine all authority and to eliminate all art suddenly seemed rather attractive.

Truth in the Buzz

By the time I got out to Schaulager—it’s a 20-minute ride on the No. 11 tram from the train station—I was feeling rather Situationist myself. And so, the fact that the museum's current Robert Gober show is regarded by the Art Basel set as the hottest ticket among the city's exhibitions inclined me to dislike it.

It was early afternoon when I arrived, and the visitors were out in droves, sporting their suntans and expensive black clothes and ever-so-"unusual" glasses frames. My mood chilled further when I found myself in the first gallery room with an elderly couple who (and I've never encountered this before) were reading the wall labels not to discover the name of the work, nor even its date, but whose collection it came from.

"This one's Burt Reiner's," the old lady hissed to her husband.

Yes, I thought to myself, this is a perfect accompaniment to the fair. The work's well known; the humor's just dry enough; and there's a nice cynical undertow. Without having to try too hard, anyone can congratulate themselves on how they "get" this intellectual and rather iconoclastic stuff.

But you know what—and this is the damnedest thing—I couldn't help but be drawn in by what I saw. Put it down to the transformative power of art, if you like, but I left the exhibition realizing not only that I had seriously underestimated Gober in the past but that this is one of the best art displays I have ever seen anywhere. Ever.