OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, February 18, 7-9pm

On view Wed-Sat 11am-5pm

Artist collective the 181 (Brandon Boan, Abby Donovan, Tom Hughes, Jason Rhodes) will activate a series of circumstantial compositions considering time-based obstruction, including: the ancient Mud Lake Canal, Reserve-Capacity wave maneuvers, attempts to spot the endangered snail kite, shadow-telling trails from Mabel Cody, and other anomalous successions. Joined by artists Cose Cosmiche (Milan, IT), Emile Milgrim (Miami, FL), Rat Bastard (Miami, FL) and various passers-by, they take as their starting point the translation of something Franz Liszt is said to have written about a house concert by Frédéric Chopin: “…all idea of limit was lost, so that there seemed no boundary save the darkness of space.”

The 181 consists of: Brandon Boan, Abby Donovan, Tom Hughes, Jason Rhodes

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, February 18, 7-9pm

On view Wed-Sat 11am-5pm

SIRG’s If the Source is Open (Megamix) continues the collective’s explorations of how sound and noise play an integral role in the structuring of life, particularly as ideas about what constitutes sound and what constitutes noise are leveraged in the struggle over cultural consensus, social power, and public space. The installation reflects upon sound norms and regulation as a form of politics by other means allows cultural criticism and historical analysis to listen, balancing overly visual articulations of social life. Additionally, the role sound plays (in the form of the protest song or call-and-response political chant, for example) is integral to the foundation of communities of practice and opposition.

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, February 18, 7-9pm

On view Wed-Sat 11am-5pm

PLAY†PREY is a gospel presented as a multi-channel film experience, that recounts a relationship between God, the Church, and a queer Black child. The four-part film, and its accompanying architectural display, explore the playful impulses, innocence, and underlying violence implicated in the experience of queer Black children in the Christian Church. Beginning with an overture to the story of queer Biblical reclamation, this film builds a spiritual narrative that contemplates the structures and rules imposed on pleasure, play, and sexuality under the rigidity of Black Christianity. The narrative takes inspiration from four lyrical sermons from James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombone: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. The film features an original soundtrack in collaboration with KYN (Josh Casey & Yari Bundy) and Vocals from Sandra Lawson-Ndu.

Arsimmer McCoy’s large photo mural visible along the windows on North Miami Avenue is presented as part of an initiative to invite local artists and organizations to activate Locust Projects’ Mobile Storefront Studio. The image is a still from a film by McCoy created in collaboration with filmmaker Terence Price II and an excerpt from a poem written by McCoy and artist Reginald O'Neal

The project amplifies the importance of Black health and wellness—this year's theme for Black History month. Through this project McCoy seeks to “give honor to people of color in this city that push every day to be better for themselves, their communities, and above all, their children. My health and wellness come from my heritage, my child, and creation. My black child standing tall and strong is a message to all that see it, that we are here and will continue to persevere for generations to come.”

NFT based artworks have exploded since the $69m Beeple splash at Christie’s in March 2021. This has left us all scratching our heads. What are NFTs? What is Crypto? What is The Blockchain? How is that all connected to Bitcoin?

In this class created by Director of Fine Arts at rally.io and head Curator at SHOWFIELDS, Tam Gryn, you will understand what has led us to the Digitalization Movement, what are the practical implications for art, culture, fashion, business, finance, gaming, and beyond. With a focus on the creative community, we will connect the dots between our time spent on social media, the pandemic and 2 years of zoom. We will discuss Bitcoin, Crypto Punks, glorified JPGs and all the myths you have heard within the historical context of art as it reflects our lives.

Join Locust Projects co-founder and practicing artist, Elizabeth Withstandley, for an info session to learn more, ask questions and get expert tips on submitting a compelling proposal to the LAB MFA Open Call.

Locust Projects invites graduate-level artists to submit project proposals for an exhibition in our 400-sq ft Project Room during the summer of 2022. Apply here

What are the ways in which artists and arts institutions act as a force of displacement? What have we learned from our past experiences, and what can we do to avoid future harm?

Please join Miami-based artist Fereshteh Toosi for an in-person listening and dialogue session activating the exhibition’s central sculptural platform.

MIAMI ARTISTS! Join us IN PERSON at Locust Projects to learn how to propose a stand out idea and receive up to $6,000 in incubator funds to make it happen. You'll hear from artist Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo about his 2020 WaveMaker project Club EXILE. This is your chance to ask questions and get insights while meeting other local artists over drinks and light bites! 

HOT LUNCH!

The 181 is honored to host 6-9 PM March 19th

HOT LAVA!

Rat Bastard will use a Hara Model 750-II lathe cutter to live cut seven Miami artists (including himself), in six configurations. Each performance will be tied to a side of a 7” disc, with the limitation of 4:30 per side, in mono. Some will improvise, some will improvise over themselves. Others will recapitulate pre-composed works under the pressure and constraints of a live-to-disc cut, ultimately resulting in exciting incidentals. Ranging from hip hop and noise guitar, to synth worship and electro-acoustic ambient tape manipulation, the night’s artists include: Rat Bastard, Ellen Ripley, Suzy, MisterE MachinE MusiC, Ale Campos, and Doris Dana x Brom Lee.

Join Locust Projects and Oolite Arts for a conversation with Amada Cruz, Director and CEO of Seattle Art Museum.

Sonic Insurgency Research Group (SIRG) joins scholars Jillian Hernandez and Fredo Rivera in a conversation about the critical issues most pressing to them with a focus on the aesthetics of excess, displacement, art, sound, power, and culture within the artworld and the “oceanic borderlands” more broadly, to use Rivera’s term. This conversation continues and extends a series of ongoing dialogues SIRG has been facilitating with artists, scholars, and activists about sound, power, and place.