Art Basel Miami Beach Preview: Exhibition Watch
New Roots for “New Spring”
COS and design duo Studio Swine are bringing their “New Spring” bubble tree installation to The Temple House — with a few design tweaks inspired by the Art Deco building and beachy locale. A concept shop from COS will accompany the exhibition.
WWD: What was the original intention and inspiration for New Spring?
Studio Swine: We wanted to create a moment, an experience of being under blossom. An awareness of the impermanence of things.
WWD: What effect does location lend to New Spring? How does Temple House interact with or shape reception of the piece?
S.S.: When we saw Temple House we were really taken by the simple geometry with the curved concrete vaulted ceiling and the cantilevered facade. It has an uncanny resemblance to the forms of our sculpture and the sense of simple geometry which is playful and somewhat weightless.
WWD: What design elements have been tweaked for Miami?
S.S.: The tree has been designed specifically for the space, it’s larger and has three tiers of branches with more buds creating the bubbles. We have also created unique scents inspired by Miami that will diffuse from the bubbles when they burst. The five scents captures Miami locations such as the tree-lined avenues of Old Cutler Road, the verdant green foliage of the nature reserves at the boardwalk, the region’s citrus fruit groves, etc.
WWD: What has been most surprising or interesting about how the installation has been interacted with?
S.S.: The response from everyone young and old totally blew us away.
WWD: What did you find most rewarding about collaborating with COS?
S.S.: The support they have given us is incredible, they had the vision to make this piece a reality and share it with the public, that’s something incredibly rare and special.
Studio Drift Swarms the Sky
Studio Drift will see its latest project take flight on Dec. 6. The Amsterdam-based design collective, which explores cross-sections between technology, art and nature, has created “Franchise Freedom,” an autonomous aerial installation of 300 drones programmed to imitate natural flight. The performance piece will have public nighttime viewings at the Faena Hotel Miami Beach in conjunction with BMW and Pace Gallery from Dec. 7-Dec. 10.
Es Devlin’s Room 2022
One of the biggest projects of the week is by artist and stage designer Es Devlin, who will present Room 2022, an immersive installation at the Miami Beach Edition hotel.
Known for her work with the London Olympic Closing Ceremony and the Rio Olympic Opening Ceremony; set design for Louis Vuitton, and stage sculptures for the tours of Beyoncé, Kanye West, Jay Z, Adele and more, Devlin takes over the space through Dec. 10 with a series of mirror mazes, soundscapes and videos spread across over 7,000 square feet. Hotel rooms served as an inspiration for the concept: “Hotels work because everyone in them takes part in a heroic act of collective imagination,” Devlin says. “We all tacitly agree to suspend our disbelief and subscribe to the illusion that the walls between us are sound-proof and life-proof and that each room is its own isolated world that can be restored to order by invisible magic while we are out.”
James Goldcrown Brings Love to Dream Hotel
Muralist James Goldcrown is bringing his Insta-recognizable heart scrawls into the Dream South Beach. The artist will unveil “Dream Bigger,” a solo exhibition of his wall designs featuring neon lighting installations.
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