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The sound of the waves breaking out at sea. Palm trees swaying back and forth to the syncopated beat of the city. The smell of petrol vaporising on the balmy tarmac outside of a petrol station. The sun-drenched highway stretching far into the horizon. The strip of luxury waterside spa retreats. Party in the city where the heat is on. All night on the beach until the break of dawn. Welcome to… Okay, I’ll stop. You’ve got it, Miami.

Miami is the undisputed metropolis for Art Deco architecture, made popular by Bruce Weber’s 1982 Calvin Klein campaign starring Tom Hintnaus. It’s a mecca for art dealers, curators, collectors and seasoned art connoisseurs alike. Art luminaries and visionaries walk alongside art students and Basel-virgins – but it’s okay. You’re in Miami, it’s Art Basel, what have you got to complain about? Experiencing it firsthand as a guest of Fendi, to say I underwent some kind of drug-free hallucination would be an understatement. Granted, it’s the start of a life-long addiction, but there are worse things to be hooked on than art, right?

Sauntering past a sun-drenched Market Pleasure on my way to the Design Miami space, I feel like I’ve stepped inside one of William Eggleston’s colourific masterpieces. At the event, Fendi were celebrating their seventh year at Design Miami, this time in collaboration with Italian design duo, Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci – collectively named Dimorestudio. The space in which we stand – Moran and Salci’s high-luxe Roman Lounge – is caged by panels of smoked cathedral glass lit by LED lights.

Running my hand down the silk-smooth shaved mink day bed in front of me, it’s clear Dimorestudio really understand the language of Fendi. For Venturini Fendi, who first encountered Dimorestudio’s work in the Fendi Paris store, a shared approach to design was integral. “There is a link to the Italian aesthetic of the 50s and 60s in their work – big masters like Giò Ponti for instance,” she says. “This was something we really liked, along with their use of colour, the lightness of their work and the geometry. I think it’s very mathematical. There are many aspects that link us, but you can see that they are really influenced by our traditions and history.” Originally intended as a one-off collection, the demand on the opening day alone was unprecedented. “Being a curious person, I don’t put boundaries on my work,” she continues. “I like to jump on different things. I never say never. I think it’s interesting to always have new challenges.”

Here, Britt Moran of Dimorestudio runs us through the co-op.

Wonderland: Tell us about your individual design backgrounds.

Britt Moran: We both come from furniture families. Emiliano’s family had a furniture company in Tuscany and my family has a home furnishings company in the US. It’s always been in our blood.

W: And how did you two meet?

B: We met in Milan, through a mutual friend. I was working as a graphic designer, Emiliano was working as an art director. We had the chance to work on a project together, and then we thought it would be nice to continue working together. That was 13 years ago, so it’s worked out well.

W: Very well! Where did the name Dimorestudio come from?

B: Dimore in Italian means “dwelling”. In Italy it’s a bit more of an atmosphere surrounding an old building. It has a historic connotation too, that’s why we chose it. We very much like the idea of the dilapidated and decrepit reimagined in a very beautiful way.

W: Yeah, your work has many historic traits. What periods are you drawn to most?

B: Definitely the 20s, the 30s, the 40s, although a lot of people say they see the 50s in our work. It’s kind of this mid-century modern that we like.

W: Describe your working dynamic – do you work together at every stage of the design process?

B: We do, because we are very different, so I think we complement each other nicely. I think Emiliano is more contemporary than I am, and I’m a little more traditional. I think it’s the way we push each other or inject our own opinion into each other’s work that makes it what it is today.

W: Definitely. So, tell me about working with Fendi.

B: After collaborating in Paris three years ago we said it would be nice to work together again. So when this opportunity came about we were obviously thrilled. We came up with the idea of recreating an apartment with a Roman influence, and an Italian look to it. That’s how we started. I have to say it was a super-easy project because when we did our initial presentation, we proposed all of the pieces you see today. We thought they’d do a selection of two or three, but at the end they said, “Let’s do all of them!” That was extremely gratifying. We were able to find a link between what we do and what Fendi does, especially with the colour choices and the right proportions that create a sort of lightness to the objects, so that they don’t seem imposing even though they are large.

W: How did you decide on which fabrics to use?

B: Well, obviously it’s Fendi, so we wanted to make sure we were using their leathers and their minks. We use brass a lot, it’s kind of our trademark, so it was a nice way to integrate the two. It was fantastic for us to be able to use such luxurious materials.

W: So aside from Fendi, what else are you working on at the moment?

B: We’re doing a couple of hotels in Mexico, one in Guadalajara. We’re also doing a hotel in Paris, it’s a fantastic project.

W: Would you want your own hotel?

B: I’d love to have our own hotel! I think a Dimore hotel would be fantastic – just because I think it’s so nice when you’re able to create a fantasy world for people. Now that would be amazing.

Words: Brooke McCord.

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1. Agustina Woodgate

Agustina Woodgate was the only Miami-based artist chosen for Art Positions at Art Basel, a platform for a single major project allowing curators, critics and collectors to discover new talent. Woodgate’s work creates a discourse with the environment and her installations, performances and projects deal with humanity, place and displacement and transformation. In ‘New Landscapes’, Woodgate uses positive and negative matter from three representations of Earth as a proposal for a new kind of territorial exploration as she moves towards an exploration of an optimistic realization of the world. The artist sanded a map, atlas and globe, modifying and recontextualizing the objects as a reaction to the world today, erasing countries and nations, creating one humankind and one planet.

2. Asif Farooq

Miami artist Asif Farooq and his gallery, Primary Projects, set up shop in Wynwood for Art Basel 2012. Farooq spent 7000 hours over a 9 months period to hand-craft 300 superb replica cardboard guns, ranging from snub-nosed revolvers to AK 47s and M16 assault rifles. Asif’s guns was easily the most outstanding and talked about art installation in the Wynwood Art District this year. Set up like a real gun store, the Primary Projects team paid attention to every minor detail to create an ideal space to present and sell Asif Farooq’s artillery – as well as an environment of art and a forum for a discourse on iconography and gun culture.

3. Andra Ursuta

New York based Andra Ursuta was another artist chosen for the Art Position sector. Known for her dark, erotic and humorous sculptures, the young artist is heavily influenced by her Pentecostal Romanian family and strict upbringing. ‘Pole Woman 1’, presented by the gallery Ramiken Cucibles, is another example of Ursuta turning cultural clichés into art.

4. Julieta Aranda

Art Positions is a platform to discover new artists and the Mexican artist Julieta Aranda was one of the chosen few to participate. Her installation ‘I Want to Give it to Someone Else’ raised questions about the role of architecture in society, low income housing, living space and dignity. Aranda reconstructed the floor plan of an apartment building for the poor that collapsed in an earthquake in Mexico in 1985 due to cheap building materials. “Part of the proposal was to give dignity to those people, which is something that I find complicated because I do not think that dignity is something you can do as a handout,” explains Aranda. “The question is, how can you give dignity to people by asking them to just let go of their possessions? Because you will give them something else that is better? The intentions are good but there is too much of an imposition there.”

5. Jumana Manna

Jumana Manna grew up with a feeling of transnational identity. The 25-year-old artist grew up between New Jersey and Jerusalem, feeling simultaneously Palestinian and Israeli and studying in California before relocating to Norway. CRG Gallery from New York presented Manna’s work at Art Basel via a piece entitled ‘Come to Rest’, a life size carousel like the barriers one needs to pass between Israel and Gaza or the West Bank. ‘Come to Rest’ is an inactive barrier that she confronts in her work. “It’s a reference to the fact that you are not supposed to enter until someone else has let the turnstile come to rest,” explains Mae Petra-Wong of CRG. “It’s also an irony of there is nothing restful or peaceful about a barrier between those two countries.”

6. Scott Campbell

American artist and tattoo artist Scott Campbell’s star has risen fast in the art world. Within a mere five years Campbell has reached a level few artists ever reach, with works selling for six figures and a rumored retrospective in 2013. At this year’s Art Basel, Campbell was particularly prominent. At the main vernissage he was present with his delicate sculptures made out of US dollar bills (and yes, he is the only artist in the world who has permission to use US currency) and the satellite fair ‘It Ain’t Fair’ by OH WOW presented a hand engraved 24k gold plated copper rainbow.

7. Theaster Gates

Theaster Gates’ ‘Soul Manufacturing Corporation’ took over Locust Projects in Miami’s Design District. Gates, a sculptor and trained urban planner who lives and works in Chicago, created a factory occupied by “skilled makers” featuring everyone from a DJ to a yoga instructor. Beginning with an empty space things were produced during the duration of the exhibition. Inspired by the early industrial era, Gates’ project is an effort to explore urban intervention, space transformation and relationships between aesthetics, labor and race.

Words: Heike Dempster
Images: Heike and Robert Dempster

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Agustina Woodgate became an online sensation when the Internet found her sewing poetry into thrift store clothes, but the Argentine is taking on the world with her playful, world-conscious art – starting with an abandoned theme park in Berlin.

First of all, tell us a bit about yourself.

I am from Argentina originally, I’ve been living in Miami for eight years, but I’m a traveller so I keep moving. I’m taking pilot lessons, learning how to fly – I think that’s a nice exercise for me, seeing things from above. Another perspective.

What’s Miami like?

It’s a playground. This place has a lot of resources from space to community because the city is small, it’s a family, we all know each other. I’ve traveled a lot and been to many big cities like London and New York and it is just as alive. Just because it is small doesn’t mean it isn’t brewing something.

Tell us about your recent exhibition in Berlin, Kulturpark, where you revitalised in an old amusement park?

It started as research on amusement, culture and its impact on societies- this park in particular gets complicated since it was build by the GDR. The park’s been been abandoned for 10 years and jungle grew all over the place. We travelled for two years continuing our research and meeting people. This summer, we organised a series of tours into the park, hosting a think tank in the district offices where 50 Berlin representatives (urban planners, cultural officers etc) discussed the land and its possible future.

Did the artists that were part of this actually change or transform the park or create something new?

The artists did create something but it wasn’t transforming the park but instead, working with it. All actions, performances and installations where site-specific and temporary. The park with its history was the inspiration for all their works. One of the artists was hosting tours around the fence, teaching people how to jump. (The only way to see the park).

What other works were there?

There was a guy who did this performance that was amazing. It was a waiting performance. We were just waiting at the front door: collaborative waiting. It’s interesting because if you go to an amusement park, half of the time you’re waiting and also, the land is in this waiting state, on standby. These girls did a beautiful garden of roses in the entire main plaza out of sugar. All these beautiful roses go together perfectly with the amusement park but there’s also this crazy story of the park owner’s family smuggling cocaine from Peru.

You take on a complete approach in your work with maps by using the entire atlas. Would you say your work focuses more on humankind in general rather than specific countries or cultures?

Exactly, a lot of my work approaches that unity. We all have the same attitude to the object. I painted a really long hopscotch on the sidewalk and then all of a sudden the sidewalk becomes a game. I did one with 800 numbers – what’s cool about it is that it can be done in any country in the world because the entire world knows how to play. It’s vandalism, but at the same time it’s so participatory and it’s an invitation. When it comes down to it, I am interested in talking to a large amount of people.

What are you currently working on?

I’m in front of my atlas – 600 pages, I am sanding every page of it and having a little bit of fun with it, too. I’m also recording everything so it is also becoming a time-lapse video piece. I also started another new body of work, in the same reaction of sanding and erasing, but with banknotes.

What shows do you have coming up?

I have a show coming up in Brazil in September. I’ll do a large project for Art Basel in Miami in December for Spinello Projects and I’m also preparing for an exhibition in Argentina next year.

agustinawoodgate.com / spinelloprojects.com

Words: Heike Dempster

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Who is Andrew Nigon?

Andrew is a white kid from the Midwest who is still afraid to talk to strangers.

You say: “the aim of my work is to draw attention to the parallax nature of our contemporary existence in which we have an insatiable drive to improve while living in a state of constant decay.” Could you elaborate?

I guess what I’m saying is that for the work to be really meaningful to me it has to embody some heroic qualities without forgetting that the struggle never ends. There is no “happily ever after”. Not really. Things are good for a while and then they suck again. Even my process is made up of a combination of building up and tearing down with the final product existing somewhere in between.

Your work often resembles toys – so how do you still tell a story that starts a mature conversation?

I don’t intentionally make the work to look like toys. Pink is a favorite color of mine since it can be connected to so many things across the spectrum. Pink is Disney princess and pink is vagina. I always try to balance any painful characteristics that my work may possess with bright playful colours. I imagine all of my work as living things that have stories told through their scares and imperfections. In the end I think the work is pathetic but also light hearted, and in that way, opens up for mature conversation. Everyone can relate to pathetic.

One of your latest sculptures is a tower of dolls atop each other. Could you tell us more please?

I try to combine a circus aesthetic with religious iconography to all my work. I grew up Roman Catholic but was always disappointed with how dry the ceremonies were. Perhaps the Catholic Church today tries to appear normal and safe, or maybe it’s just me. Either way that blah approach removes all of the mystery that makes religion so powerful. “Disciples of a New Faith” was in response to some of these ideas. I created a group of clowns stacked on top of one another to resemble a 13 foot tall totem pole. It’s as if this small congregation is in the middle of some strange ritual to bring them closer to God… or they’re just entertainment to outsiders, who’s to say? Mystery and God are sometimes the same thing.

Has anything interesting/ funny/ dangerous ever happened when you tried a new material?

With art? No. But a few years ago when I was home visiting my parents I accidentally got wicked drunk on gin and tried to start a bonfire with gasoline.

What are you currently working on?

I’ve been reading about “two-spirits” in Native American Culture. Two-Spirits are individuals who possess qualities of both genders and perform both roles in dress and work. I am interested in how these people were treated as divine characters and often acted as priests or medicine men. This is influencing a new body of work that examines the mysterious power of “otherness”.

What exhibitions do you have coming up?

A group show this fall at Primary Projects with some new work. This will be a teaser for a much bigger show at PP this winter that I am very excited about. Stay tuned.

What is the first thing that comes to you mind when you think of Wonderland?

Are you talking about that gentleman’s club on Biscayne?

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Your first solo show opens on February 11th. Are you ready?

I have actually done a solo show before, but nothing like this. The gallery is huge and I am trying to fill it up. I’ve been working on this for almost a year, so yes…I am so fucking ready!

What defines the art of Jessy Nite?

I think I am still figuring that out.

You chose the title “Bad As I Wanna Be” for it. Why?

‘Cause being bad is oh so fun. I pretty much do whatever I want in life and I think that’s always the goal. Not even in a fucking punk rock way, just going as far as you wanna go. “Bad As I Wanna Be” is also about now I am getting to finally do the projects I always wanted to do. I always knew that I can do it but I have been waiting for the opportunity to show people. This is my own personal side of it… It’s about the whole attitude of just doing it.

Please tell us about title of the show…

It’s a bedroom piece for kinky people. A big 4×4 ft piece made out of layered, mirrored plexi that spells out “Bad As I Wanna Be.” It hangs from the ceiling above the bed and people are invited to hop under the covers and get bad with their reflection above.

What other pieces can we expect ?

Lots of builds and installations with different materials…wood, metal, gold, crystal, pills, and more. I am also showing a series of paintings entitled “Money-Hungry”, mixing bling and desserts. Think about a super-rich lady, a delusional housewife and if she ever decided to make something one day, because they don’t cook, she would be like “oh this is going to be the best pie ever, let’s use the Cartier!”

What were your inspirations for the show?

Sex, drugs, money…Miami! A lot of my work is inspired by Miami and how-over-the-top rich people are. I have always been really interested in that super over-the-top-wealth cause they are so fucked up. They have so much money . Most of them are like pill-popping housewives, they just marry some rich dude. That’s like my dream, marry some super-rich dude and just kind of like waste away and not even give a fuck. I just take my prescription pills and sip Champagne by the pool and fade away. I could never do that though. I am not that kind of person!

Your work often has a certain shock value to it. Is it deliberate or coincidence?

It is shocking? I guess some of it is…I don’t really think there is anything shocking about saying “fuck” or using drugs or blatant pornography. Those things all exist in very real ways for the majority of society and I hate that we all just have to hide those sides of ourselves. I say, bring that shit out and stop caring so much…

Do you ever think about how the public might react to any of your art when you create it?

Yes but not everything is for everyone. I know how to be appropriate in certain arenas. I like doing that! I want to make all kinds of things for all kinds of people, but it’s a project by project type of thing.

If you could create a piece of art entitled “Wonderland”. What would it be?

A giant experiential installation ending in sensory overload.

Words: Heike Wollenweber

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