NiteTalk: Eurydice & Friends to Occupy Crumb

Contrary to popular opinion -- not to mention that of the many millionaires who descended upon Miami for Art Basel -- not all art is a commodity, and not every artist is for sale. Case in point: Eurydice, who led the band of unbuyable visualists known as Occupy Art Basel. This Friday the conscience-driven Renaissance woman delivers In Art We Trust amid the expansive confines of a joint called Crumb.

Wanna tell us a quick bit about In Art We Trust? It's a guerrilla art event, a spontaneous gathering of artists who are interested in the Occupy movements and the people protesting in the streets, in the unholy marriage of money and art investment, and most of all in each other's art. To counter the Art Basel bacchanalia, there are no formal gallery walls or bright lights and the art displayed will not be for sale. It is a living transformative and unpredictable art happening, where we all have one thing in common: In Art We Trust!

Who are the artists involved in the action? We've got Adler A.F. aka "The Trash Queen"; Urban Hunter David Tamargo; videomaker Emil Memon; Sharpie graffitiest Jona Cerwinske; Kathy Kissik with her photoassemblages; sculptor Gregory De La Haba; multi-media video artist Lindsay Scoggins; installationist Juan Griego; and, of course, me, Eurydice, with some of my hand-stitched collages.

Aren't there also a few special guests slated to participate? In addition to The Trash Queen and Alligator Jesus, we'll have DJ Jona and DJ Dopesteppa, Orlando on trash percussion, and Mike Reynolds and 111 other artists, who will perform a tribute to gentrification.

Is there some kinda link behind the line-up? They are artists we all want to get to know better, they are sharp-minded and tongue-in-cheek funny and unpredictable and fearless.

How'd this all come to be at Crumb? Thanks to Amir Ben-Zion, patron of the arts. The luxurious collection of boutiques, galleries, realtor offices, and shops fits our theme of mistrusting capitalism when it comes in very close contact to Art. We trust in art more than money or god. The Design District/Wynwood area reflects the classic gentrification process of longtime area residents and workers being displaced by upwardly mobile, bourgeois bohemians.

Were there any thoughts of it being too soon after the blowout that was Basel? The most appropriate time to have an one-night show in Miami, to prove a point this show is making, is just after the grand spectacle of the Art World named Art Basel Miami Beach. On Friday the art is not for sale! This event is driven by the artists' need to find a space and come together to share each other's work and discuss real and faux/performance concerns. A desire for camaraderie amongst artists with unabashed and raucous conversation about our livelihoods, about our art, and our world. We believe that art exists in this transaction between the creator and the viewer; it's even better when the viewer is a fellow artist. When the financial and political systems fail us, in art we trust!

Speaking of Basel, word is you caused something of a stir on South Beach, care to explain? We had plenty of trouble with the city of MB in our effort to open up a raw space for four days so people could walk through the Occupy Art Basel exhibit. Everyone from DERM to the decency police tried to stop us. We were too close for comfort, just a block from the convention center.

Any other stirrings you'd like to mention before we go-go? Occupy Art Basel will come back, again and again, when and where the status quo least expects it.

In Art We Trust Friday takes place December 16, 7-11pm at Crumb 3930 NE 2nd Avenue Miami. For more information log on here.

 

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