December 5-10, 2017
1510 22nd street, Sunset Island 4, Miami Beach, FL

Open house daily Tue-Sun 2-4pm
Drinks and public view Sat 9 Dec, 4-8pm

Nina Beier (DK), David Horvitz (US), Gregory Kalliche (US), Andrea Longacre-White (US), Nicolas Lobo (US), Sofia Restorp (SE), Sanke of Norway (NO), Alison Veit (US), Tori Wrånes (NO)

 

 

The exhibition, which takes place in a residential property for sale, uses the theme of seasickness to address the shifting, precarious state of our political and environmental situation. The ocean can represent a mythological, utopic space but is also a symbol of instability and flux. The vision of the open seas has long entered into the human psyche as one of the last unchartered territories left on the planet, sustaining life for all creatures through a complex cycling of water within the biosphere. Yet in recent years a buzz from right wing interest groups has campaigned for its colonization with serious funding of projects such as the Seasteading Institute by the likes of the libertarian PayPal founder Peter Theil. What would a semi-autonomous, self-governed alt-right ocean colony look like?

Cities like Miami rely on the continuous consumption of their pristine beaches and waterfronts by sunbaked tourists, but the precarity of this resource has been made all too real with the most recent wave of hurricanes devastating the Gulf Coast states, Caribbean, and Central America. Miami is a city built on soft earth and manmade reefs. Water levels are undeniably rising but the beachfront mansions never looked better.

The artists in this exhibition examine a wide range of associations around our relationship with water. Nina Beier’s Human Resource Industries consist of a pair of size 55 basketball shoes worn by NBA All Star player Brook Lopez filled with artificial tears and synthetic sweat produced by the pharmaceutical and textile industries. The liquid representations of emotional and physical weariness are here conceived for unsentimental purposes. These stand-ins for the most delicate nature of human condition soak through the almost larger than life absorbent material slowly creating a puddle on the floor as the liquid escapes. A new commission by Nicolas Lobo launches an earthy filtration system using pool water so you can swim, then drink it afterwards. Sofia Restorp’s work, a new commission, presents an Oceanside bungalow resembling a large insect, or a house on crutches, and offers bag juice to its visitors. Its presence is mildly, amusingly awkward, like an uninvited guest from the other side of the pond. Also a new commission, Nicolas Lobo’s self-sustained system relies on the property’s pool water. Gregory Kalliche’s future mythical video adapts the perspective of a lone reptile attempting to escape earth, either before humans existed or after. Tori Wrånes’ body parts are disjoined and faceless, lost in the eye of the storm, but they still seem to have good dance moves. Andrea Longacre-White’s rambling knots and hangings made from nautical-equestrian-climbing-bondage gear suggest the anchoring down of bodies, buildings, possessions; appeasing an insecurity, albeit highly fetishized, of tying down and guarding in unstable times. Alison Veit’s tactile and libidinous reliefs elicit a world that is at once ancient as it is futuristic. Sandy shapes sometimes revealing mirrors and sometimes bodies suspend a material that would otherwise slip back into the ocean. Sanke of Norway is an avant-luxury brand established by the artist Andreas Ervik. The hand-blown bottle is pristine but contains nothing more than water, rebottled and rebranded from its native Norwegian spring. And finally, the works of David Horvitz reminds us that there are still a few places that belongs to everyone: not just the beach but Internet worm holes and other constantly shifting places.

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Blue Ruin is a curatorial-business hybrid that examines the high-end real estate market through contemporary fine art exhibitions. With topical issues related to the home and standards of living, Blue Ruin situates these conversations directly within properties for sale.

Blue Ruin is Agnes Bolt & Anna Frost

Organized in collaboration with Bas Fisher Invitational and Weichert Realtors.
Supported by The Knights Foundation, The Cultural Affairs Program of the Department of Tourism, Culture & Economic Development and Nordisk Kulturfond.