Art for All

During Miami Art Week 2023, more than 50,000 art enthusiasts lined up to see Faena District’s four provocative installations collectively titled ‘Spaces of Influence: Shaping Community in the Modern World.’

 ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN FAENA JOURNAL ISSUE #55 • SPRING 2024

Faena Art Week brought together notable artist Sebastian Errazuriz’s pioneering explorations of technology, design, and community; local artist Kelly Breez’s vibrant and authentic tribute to Miami’s unique social fabric; digital artist Beeple’s kinetic sculpture highlighting the threat of climate change; and local artist Liene Bosquê’s site-specific installation based on the demolished and lost building silhouettes of Miami Beach prior to the 1980s.

“Collectively, their installations serve as an engaging lens through which we can explore and celebrate the evolving dynamics of community in our modern world,” said Alan Faena.

Errazuriz’s headlining installation, ‘MAZE: Journey Through the Algorithmic Self,’ was a veritable cynosure of public interest and activity during Miami Art Week. “Twenty thousand people RSVP’d for the opening and there was an ongoing block-long line to enter the maze all week,” said Errazuriz. “People really enjoyed themselves!”

Designed using artificial intelligence (AI) platforms Midjourney and DALL-E2, the sand-covered labyrinth erected on Faena Beach invited visitors on a journey of self-discovery while reflecting on how AI is increasingly shaping the world. The artwork urged viewers to consider the ways in which communal interactions will help humankind navigate the ethical complexities and potential biases that come with AI, and to ensure that technology serves humanity, not the other way around.

“It was incredibly touching to see people’s views of the maze on social media, how they would frame parts of the maze that were most important to them and capture the play of light on the walls at different hours of the day,” he said.

In addition, Errazuriz’s Renaissance-style marble sculpture, ‘Battle of the Corporate Nations,’ was displayed in Faena Miami Beach’s Cathedral, humorously casting tech moguls Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos in an epic struggle for global domination.

The artwork was showcased alongside digital artist Beeple’s groundbreaking sculpture S.2122 (2023). Presented by Faena Art in partnership with The Reefline, the futuristic work uses blockchain technology, digital video, and three-dimensional sculpture to depict a decaying building complex slowly being buried underwater as hypnotic drones circle overhead. To raise awareness for climate change and rising sea levels, Beeple will raise the water levels in the work every five years until the building is completely submerged. “The inhabitants will evolve and adapt, symbolizing not just the resilience of humanity in the face of climate change, but also our inherent ability to thrive amidst adversities,” commented Beeple.

Florida-born-and-bred artist Kelly Breez presented Dirt’s Dive, an immersive installation in Faena Art Project Room that transported visitors to the nostalgic, vanished bar scenes of old South Florida. Weaving her personal history and local lore into a distinctive aesthetic narrative, the fantastical bar environment was brought to life with mannequins, found objects, and paintings reminiscent of dive-bar decor. “Everyone who came to Dirt’s seemed utterly delighted and also kind of confused, which was a great combo,” said Breez. Set against the high-octane backdrop of Miami Art Week, the exhibition offered a poignant commentary on the disappearance of Miami’s vintage watering holes that are being swallowed up by modern glitz.

 

“Dirt’s is meant to be a reminder that places and characters of ‘old’ South Florida need to be lauded and stay in the conversation.”

For the 2023 edition of No Vacancy, a juried art competition supported by the City of Miami Beach that pairs mostly local artists with iconic Miami hotels to showcase their artwork, Bosquê displayed her work in the Faena Miami Beach Cathedral. The artist used a suspended aluminum curtain to create a skyline silhouette of Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival, and Miami Modern buildings that the Miami Preservation League works so hard to conserve.