Shifting Zero / Miami Beach

4×6 photographs, single channel video

This photographic installation is comprised of individual frames taken from Strauss’ documentation of Shifting Zero, an performative action where the artist inscribed “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” into the sand, only to have the waves continually wash the message away. The lack of order and haphazard design of the installation is meant to mimic the urgency and impossibility of Laurencia’s performance. The title is an obvious reference to the repealed discriminatory ban on gays and lesbians in the army and is not only reflective of Strauss’ identity as a queer artist, but is also describes the blissful and, at times, voluntary ignorance of many South Florida officials and residents regarding rising sea levels and the impending crises.

Leonardo Remor / Sunset
VHS tapes, single channel video
Remor’s installation, Sunset is an attempt to mitigate the restricted access to the waterfront for spiritual and recreational purposes. Over the years the waterfront of Porto Alegre has shifted from a public to private space through government sponsored subsidies and land grants. Sunset was originally a site specific work exhibited in OcupaMirante, a cultural center in Porto Alegre and consisted of 20 VHS recordings of local sunsets; viewers were prompted to pick their own sunset and meditate on the slow imagery from one of the few remaining vantage points where the sunset can be seen in real time. The poignancy of this work comes with its context that these VHS tapes, like the giant LED sunsets in China, provide people with images of natural scenes they no longer have access to. S unset offers a glimpse into our post-future where land at the water’s edge becomes uninhabitable and our only access to natural scenes is through images and simulations.