A Public Textual Intervention by Nayda Collazo-Llorens in Miami Beach

This public textual intervention made by this artist born in Puerto Rico and based in New York City and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, consists of the placement of a series of texts on some of the walking paths at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Texts are based on thoughts and memories—both real and invented—collected from Miami Beach locals and visitors.

“As in some of my previous projects, this work has been created using a sampling approach to cultural production. Through it, I continue to explore the way in which we perceive and process information, dealing with concepts of navigation, language, displacement, memory and noise”, states Collazo-Llorens about her upcoming installation. This work, its non-linear narrative and disjointed structure, will offer visitors/pedestrians an open-ended journey, a “textscape” or mental mapping to accompany them as they walk, functioning as triggers into alternate thoughts, and tapping into alternate imaginaries.

The collection of text involved on-site research and collection of material via printed matter and casual conversations. Text was also collected through the use of question-cards that were handed out to Bass Museum visitors at the front desk and during Beats After Sunset in October and November 2012. Once edited, the text functions as a collection of disparate voices, pointing to a specific geographically/culturally-based context offering a poetic and fluid space of interpretation.

The title of the project, Pleasure, Fear and the Pursuit of Happiness, responds to the major themes encountered during research and collection of text. It’s part of “tc: temporary contemporary” is a city-wide temporary, public art program initiated by the Bass Museum of Art in partnership with the City of Miami Beach. This program seeks to activate the urban landscape with art, surprising and engaging residents, visitors and passers-by with outdoor works of art in unexpected places. Sculpture, murals, sound installations, video and other interactive works of art, will interrupt people’s daily routines and encourage thoughtful interactions with the city and its communities. Public art becomes a catalyst to appreciate the unique character of Miami Beach from the Art Deco façade of the Bass Museum to Frank Gehry’s New World Symphony, to the busy streets and boardwalk and the spaces in between.

“tc: temporary contemporary” is an ongoing project, as works of art explore interactions and relationships: to an environment, to a site and to each other. This general theme includes the nuances of communication and interactivity, as well as our physical relationship to architecture. The topography of the city will be pointed to, redrawn and redefined by some projects. Others will convey a sense of surprise via displacement, where seemingly common objects in public space are not what they appear. A number of projects are designed to promote new, vibrant meeting places for social interactions in the community.

The Miami Beach Botanical Garden, a public garden in the heart of Miami Beach creates environmental education programs; provides and preserves urban green space, tree canopy and beautification; and serves as a venue for the arts.

Nayda Collazo-Llorens | Pleasure, Fear and the Pursuit of Happiness

ON VIEW June 29 – November 3, 2013