1. Strandbeest the Dream Machines of Theo Jansen is on view until December 7th at Miami Beach.
Would you be scared if you encountered a 42-foot-long heartless creature while wandering the beaches of Miami? Despite your answer,
next week you can and you will as Dutch artist Theo Jansen is bringing his beautifully constructed and unliving Strandbeests to the sunny art fair. While moving with the wind, the technical structures resembles animals of the past. Jansen’s alternative life forms, with their complex mechanical motions, mirror the precision and technological mastery at the heart of sponsors Audemars Piguet’s tradition of watchmaking. They will be on view every day from 1pm until 8pm. Location: Oceanfront, Miami Beach Drive, between 21st & 22nd Streets, Miami Beach.
2. Ryan McNamara’s MEƎM 4 Miami: A Story Ballet about the Internet plays 8pm and 10.30pm, December 3 and 4 at Miami Grand Theater.
Previously awarded the second Malcolm McLaren Award as the most innovative and thought-provoking performance of Performa 13, Ryan McNamara’s MEƎM has already gained recognition in the industry. The performance presents an interpretation of the layered architecture of the internet and the infinite streams of information that pour through its portals onto our laptops and smart phones. Exploring how we share content and process information, McNamara samples and remixes music and movement within an inventively staged environment that reflects the dense layers of our digital landscape. The ballet engages multiple narratives – the internet as a utopic space of unfettered and open global communication and self-creation, as sinister military infrastructure, and as motor for a round-the-clock infotainment culture.
3. Queen of the Night takes place December 3rd at Up&Down Pop-Up.
For the first time, Queen of the Night, one of the biggest entertainment spectacles in performance art, will make its debut outside of their extravagant New York City venue at the Paramount Hotel for Celebrating Women In Art: CREATIVE ROYALTY during Art Basel Miami Beach. The 2014 Celebration of Women in Art event brings together top names in music, art, fashion, and film to benefit the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and School of Doodle. Artists like Millie Brown, Brooke Candy, Florence and The Machine’s Isabella Summers and many more will be performing.
4. Digital Talk: Instagram as an Artistic Medium featuring Simon de Pury, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Klaus Bisenbach takes place at 5pm, December 4th at Art Basel.
With Instagram artists such as Doug Abraham quickly gaining grounds—his 552 posts mixing fashion with bondage, porn, and horror movies have earned him 58k followers—on the Facebook owned social media site, it’s time that it’s discussed if social media can be used as a real platform for art. Thanks to the three heavy-hitters Klaus Biesenbach (MoMA PS1), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine Gallery), and Simon de Pury this is now happening. On December 4th the three sit down with Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom to discuss Instagram as an Artistic Medium. With a combined following of well over 300k, the three should have some interesting inputs.
5. Jennifer Rubell’s breakfast installation takes place from 9am to 12pm, December 4 at Rubell Family Collection.
Last month, Jennifer Rubell created the entire menu for Performa’s 10 year anniversary in NYC. The lucky invited could enjoy penis-shaped buckets of brussels sprouts cut directly off the ass-baring waiters walking around the historic Weylin B. Seymour venue in Williamsburg topless. At the end of the dinner, guests were encouraged to smash the tables with hammers to uncover hidden chocolate desserts. Needless to say that Rubell’s installations are fun to experience for anybody and wouldn’t it be amazing to recover from the previous night’s extravagance with a fun food installation?!