plato n aristotle

DASH Portfolio Day 2012 cements the conviction that the next generation has promise.

Design and Architecture Senior High School may be under the umbrella of the Dade County public school system but it is anything but mundane. DASH continues to be the 305 laboratory for creative genius delivering visionary cultivated socially.

That is why recruiters from prestigious institutions of higher learning flock to this most imperative and recurring annual event.

Not surprising, the skilled eye is never far removed from the novice. Point is, it takes the dexterity of moment to recognize potential and promise.

And so it goes, year after year from town to country, the steam of consciousness flows with the discerning criticism.

Of course there is always a pox, but that does not kill the dream for perfection.

Illusion is but a hive of ambition and that "What I Do Not Know" is always around the corner...

Depiction and debauchery, how to not get canned at the portfolio review day.

no shortage of talent

hair is back, just ask the armpit

flyguy, intern Marlon Preuss

Uber Kool, sure to get go to college, Heydee Lopez of Sketchy Miami

City of Miami's Thin Blue Line taking in the artworks...

Pop, Lock n Drop. 4 years $150,000. upper education... done.

Break a Leg, Bro. When all else fails try sympathy. Best of luck to Class of 2012.

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Forking the Road

Microwaved Nation

With all the technology we ingest it is no wonder that our culture is festering with internet indigestion. The more we embrace the spoils of the information age the farther we get from the nature that is our very substance. Let us not conflate true sustainable living with the too big to fail, feel-good catch phrase trumpeted by the business as usual.



Office Bldg. of Cards

Finally construction is at an all time low. The few structures getting erected are of the prefabricated "tilt slab" variety that typify loss of jobs and stunning architecture. The arrested development due to the bursting of the credit bubble is a thawing that comes not a minute too soon to this hot forsaken heaven. 'Poop go the weasels' could be the term that defines the current end to the recent swarm of swamp speculators.




Cement or Sanity?

A short drive from the intersection of Surveillance Blvd. and Deforest Ave. is a fork in the road. There you will want to be the decider. Chose between a newly paved world or an organic world of days gone by, or make a u-turn and take the road less traveled. All rivers indeed lead to the ocean, but a tared road ends at the precipice of self-denial. The spiritual is a golden parachute for materialism, our understanding of the physical world.




Nomadic Yes, Yielding No

Young folk all around the world are not waiting for blessing from corporate media to shed taboo inhibitions and embrace the possibility of the vision thing. With the promise of bio-fuels and new horizons, they are taking the back-roads less traveled, the diligent path to sustainability. It is no longer a a question, it is a directive that Thomas has embraced with a full tank of vigor.



Compost for Humanity

Q:How did Corporate eat Organic?
A; One bite at a time.

My grandma died at 103. She, like all cave-people, ate only organic food. But today we all eat corporate food, otherwise know as caloric junk in individual portions with shelf-life. Surely any balanced neighborhood aught to have the ware-with-all and a few individuals willing to develop a community garden linked to a network of new urban farmers that embrace local solutions to our dietary needs. Murial of the Little River CSA is one such shining light of hope.
We all know what to do with bag of mangos but what do i do with 50 lbs of zucchini!
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miami 21 and over

View with a View.

Now that the much discussed Miami 21 proposal has been deep-sixed we can resume our normal programming. I wonder just how much was spent for the piles of expert opinions?



Port with No Purpose.

While the Port of Miami sits idle, politicians are pushing for a $taggering Tunnel Project that would take trucks out of sight for the scenic esplanade that is lower Biscayne Ghost Town.



Empire in the Swamp.

This Banskyesque image conjures thoughts of bigwigs blind to the destitute that surround them.



Hobbitat for Humanitat.

The Coconut Grove of my youth was an enigmatic and captivating place for a young artist eager to participate in the left of center old-urbanism that was the grove. Today, not so much.




Future Perrrrfect.

If this were the face for Miami 21 and this were the way we got around in Miami 21, then Miami 21 would have been an easy sell.



Where's the Door?

In or Out, once you commit to living in the swamp there really is no escape from the rampant backwardness beyond the confines of our luxurious lifestyles. No super-size blinders should obstruct a clear view of the inequitable swampscape.



Thinking Outside the House.

Folks, we gotta dig in and come to terms with the shortcomings of our town and country.
Turn off the TeeVee, get your shovels and dig this: our way of life is sub-standard, sub-tropical and fixable. But we should not reward the failures of our leadership with the usual hand-off.



It it Weren't Flat, Florida would be Fabulous.

Miami is like the movie Matrix Reloaded: All Tricks, No Exit, Repeat. Most people are OK with that.




Miami Nice.

Local Yokel warming up to 'Lobbyist Friend' at Pharrell's Crib.



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Bravo New World?

Voluntary Humiliation Queue

Scores of Miami artist peppered with other dreamers from across this "liberal arts" nation gathered in the sweltering heat of the swamp to audition for the next reality teevee show. Solicited by the otherwise respectable Bravo with cohort Jessica from sex in the city, young, old and freaky lined up to have a shot at soothsayer andy's fifteen minute promise.



Breakfast Special, Artlurker and Captain Justice.

The unholy affair was a particularly welcome spectacle for certain natives steeped in the art world. If you put aside the profound repercussions of how mass culture marketeers vie in desperation for the packaging and delivery of relative reality to soccer moms, nascar dads and their culture starved offspring, then it is easy to have a beer for breakfast now an then. The day of the cattle call was tantamount to the tropical storm warnings we are accustomed to in the swamp.



Gotta be In It to Win It.

I imagine plenty of the callused rejection that artist are accustomed to was delivered.
By 2pm the deciders had decided on about a dozen. They are presumably the predetermined local heavies, a couple of cute chicks, several ethnics types, freak-showies, somebody's gay cousin and the usual plants. The reality felt dreadfully scripted.
Which begs the question, with auditions in NY, LA, Chicago and Miami, is there any marketing or anthropological value to the archive of artists that Bravo has amassed? Are the bloody contracts void for those rejected? Will it all end up in a shredder?




I fell in love with this old fart, but she was betrothed.

Talent is the art of persuasion, it is having rhetorical monkeys fly out of your arsenal at that very special moment.




The casting was a civil affair, everyone's behavior was exemplary, except for BruceHighQuality. in their rented sexcalade. Gotta love the relevant irreverent!

If I had to write a name for Bravo's Untitled Art Project it might be "reality bites back" or "sex in the museum".

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midwifery delivery

It's a Girl !

A laborious congratulations to ArtLurker and his recently enhanced family unit.

With cohiba blunts and bouquets of rainbow roses,
may the fruits of your breeding adventure be resplendent.


'mother and child' definitely swampy-cute.

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Erosion Deconstructed

Doodle on a Napkin.

Most things man-made are usually done twice, once on paper then again in actuality.
Working with Daniel Arsham has been an exercise in deconstruction. We begin with the end in mind, a concept, then proceed with conviction taking mental steps back to find the path of least resistance. The opportunity to produce artwork for permanent installation at Aventura Mall was exciting. For some time now the folks who manage Aventura embarked on an ambitious plan to infuse the halls of consumerism with fine art. In a effort to enhance the shopping experience for those who would otherwise not take an interest in or have the opportunity to experience first-hand the objects of contemporary art of today, the Mall has become the artist's patron.




Romance with Erosion.

Sculptural art production is rarely simple or easy. It takes allot of doing to achieve a desired result, particularly with the visionary work of young Daniel, one of Miami's own wunderkind.
There is nothing simple about simplicity. When you are good, it looks easy.



Because work can be overwhelming "Minimum Effort and Maximum Effect" is my guiding principal. It was taught by dear mentor Dan Friedman, the father of Radical Modernism.




Burning the Mid-night Cranes.

All the installation work had to be done after the mall was closed. Everything had to look all nicy-nice for the next day of shopping.



The Look is oh-so Snarkitecture.



For more on the recent work of Arsham visit Artlurker.

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Failing Upwards

The "pyramid scheme" applied to the wall... fabulously.

As an "artists artist" I am deep into the fine art world/industry and all the who-haw that goes with it. As a parent of an aspiring young artist, I try to provide good mentoring and council for tomorrows pool of talent. Though jobs in the arts may be scarce, it is important to keep a sunny disposition. There is no shortage of talent out there. But it becomes increasingly difficult when the art establishment is permeated with people who honestly convince themselves that certain seasoned art is more valid than students' work. With little to loose, let us step on some big toes.


Entry level art school... or celebrated blue-chip?
You be the judge, jury and executioner.



Student art project... or five digit auction thing-a-majig?
A perfect WTF moment.



Best in show... or just another WTF throw-up?
Be nice to fragile youngsters when critiquing .



If you 'scrabble' these letters... they might spell out "Big Yawn" with W T and F left over.



This is actually a very nice painting. Please make more of same.

And now for the moment of truth, the revelation that comes as no surprise.
All the above is the work of Richard Tuttle. I'm sure he is a perfectly nice person, but given the critical acclaim reserved for the very best and brightest, Tuttle has one more thing to master. The ability to command an audience with words, the art of orality.



The artist/corporate hybrid look is WTF fashion-perfect. Love the artzy types, but do not have sex with anyone over 40 that is dressed like that.

Here in the Miami the swamp is muddied with a multicolored flatness that is Britto art in public places. Our 'common folk' are not supposed to understand the presumed seriousness of Tuttle-esque artwork, but their tax dollars continue to fund local public arts institutions like MAM. Go figure.

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