Guaranteed Delivery at the Margulies Collection

The Margulies Collection in Miami had a Doug Aitken sculpture. I had not seen any of his work before, but around the time i saw this, there was a lot of news coverage about his latest work, the video that he projected on to the exterior walls of MoMA NY, called Sleepwalkers. This is a very different medium where he used FedEx boxes to create the Manhattan skyline out of maquettes of buildings that never got built. Next to the work (not pictured) is a diagram that shows the story behind each building proposal in the installaton. Life size pigeons on top of some buildings add whimsy. I hope to see more of his work in the future.

Did anybody see the projections at MoMA? What did you think?

Murakami's Balloon

The Margulies Collection in Miami has one of Takashi Murakami's DOB balloons. Murakami is a well-established Japanese conceptual artist. His work is cute to look at, inspired by Japanese popular culture and comics. DOB is a mascot that Murakami created as his alter ego. It resembles Mickey Mouse, and appears in the form of sculpture, little objects and as we see here, a balloon. It is called DOB, as "D" and "B" make up the ears and the letter "O" is the face. I read that the name is short for a phrase that makes references to Japanese pop culture. DOB appears thruoghout Murakami's early work in different types of settings and evolves from an angry character to a cute one. This evolution parallels Murakami's own, from expressing the male otaku culture in his earlier work to exploring the lighter and cuter aesthetic of the female culture. The male otaku culture is shaped by sexually charged young men reading comics and watching TV superheroes. Otaku also carries the guilt and shame caused by Japan's experience with WWII.

If you did not know anything about Murakami, you would think of his work as light and cute children's comics material; but it is loaded with heavy historical and cultural references. That's what makes him so important, his ease with mixing high and low culture within a popular context.

Your Now is My Surroundings

That's me inside an Olafur Eliasson installation in the Margulies Collection. The work is titled Your Now is My Surroundings. A door inside the gallery leads you outside to a deep and narrow box of a space. The high walls are covered with mirrors above eye level that reflect the viewers' image infinitely. The skylight above is only covered by a drainpipe construction in a zigzag pattern that resembles water waves. It lets the air in. The sky is like a bright canopy on top of a dark box. Inside the installation you feel like you are immersed in the depths of the ocean looking up to the sky above. The day I was there it was a bright sunny day with few clouds. On a rainy day you could probably feel like you were lost deep in the dark ocean (and wet!).

Floating in Miami

I was in Miami last month enjoying the art, long after Miami Basel. I imagine it' s a good time to visit the art district without the crowds, at your own pace. I went to the Margulies Collection for the first time. It is a large private collection that houses an eclectic holding of photography, video, sculpture and installation art in an old warehouse. It has pieces by some of the best known artists. The collection is huge ; I clearly did not give myself enough time. There is so much to see and digest, it is probably a better idea to break up your visit, so you're not rushing. Hey, admission is free!



In a corner, suspended in the air, was the Inverted Mirror Sphere by Olafur Eliasson, a Danish artist best known for his Weather Project at the Tate Modern a few years ago (I wish i had seen it). The sphere is a perfect example of what makes him unique: he works with light as a medium. He plays with reflective materials to diffuse light and create an immersive experience in a space that envelopes you. The light in the sphere leaves the impression of a stylized sun on the floor.



Its construction reminds you of a dandelion, floating lightly in the air. It's pretty cool.

I was visiting his website (olafureliasson.net) and discovered that i saw another one of his installations on a trip to Berlin, without knowing that it was his work. More on that on a future post.