Stop by Paradise Plaza and peek into space PP133, to encounter the unexpected: "3060 Sq. Ft,” the title of a project birthed by intrepid artist Tom Scicluna, and placed by Miami Design District’s curator, Claire Breukel. The installation It is a recycled 3,060 sq. ft. vinyl billboard, repurposed for this exhibition.
Guests are invited to look at the work through the storefront’s glass (but one can sign up for an art tour to be invited inside). Tom grew excited when posed with the challenge to create art that can be interacted with in a different way. He told us “this limited experience of viewing the piece [through the glass store front] is in poetic conjunction to this moment in history...we are in a time of physical and spatial boundaries.”
"3060 sq. ft,” is part of a larger series of repurposed billboards by Tom, but this is the largest he has ever worked with, weighing more than 300 pounds. The subject of the billboard was completely unknown, it was ordered online from Minnesota directly to the Miami Design District.
One might ask, why would an artist choose to work with a mysterious billboard?
Tom states: “I’m interested in working with materials that already exist in the world and work that has been involved in social processes. Typically artwork is only touched by the hands of the artist, removed from social production, and I’m more interested in materials that have already gone through this process and recontextualizing their existence. Additionally, I was attracted to the billboard as an object for its ideology. Regardless of their images or texts, they are always trying to sell you something… so its subject doesn’t matter, as they all are sourced from the same idea.”
The shipment was received directly by Claire and she worked with Tom on the installation… deciding the bends, folds, shadows, drapery. Essentially, Claire sculpted and defined the piece. This process “made the work very conversational, as limitations and little decisions sculpted the work completely,” said Tom, “I wanted the curator, not myself, to be responsible for installing the work, and for the dimensions of the space to inform its shape.”
When asked what feelings he hopes guests take away from “3060 Sq. Ft.” Tom responded, “While there is a didactic label that is next to the piece that tells guests how the work was made… I believe that the meaning of the work resides completely in the viewer. This idea extends from the tradition of minimalism, which was all about the relocation of subjectivity from the artists to the viewer… I believe it is up to the viewer to decide if and how they are influenced by the piece.”
We encourage you to peek inside and decide for yourself. Tag @MiamiDesignDistrict and share your thoughts with us!
