FREEDOM TOWER BAR

2007

Freedom Tower

Miami, FL.

Gean Moreno contacted me to design a working bar for the exhibit. The design responded to the surrounding architecture and installations by maintaining simple platonic forms. The elements compromising the sculpture were: Wood: 1”x 4”x 8’ / Plywood/ white plexi-glass / and imitation wood grain contact paper. The photocopies behind the bar were of three Miami celebrities, infamous really:

Arthur McDuffie-(c.1946 - 1979) An African-American, whose death at the hands of five white Miami-Dade police officers, and the officers' subsequent acquittals, caused one of the worst race riots in the United States history.

Elian Gonzalez –(c.1993- ) The custody and immigration status was at the center of one of the most heated immigration controversy in U.S. history. His mother drowned at sea trying to bring him to the South Florida.  A custody battle ensued involving Elian’s father, the Cuban government, his Miami relatives and the U.S. government. He was taken by force and returned to the Cuban state and his father on May 5th and returned to the Island on June 28th, 2000.

Andrew Cunanan - (c. August 31, 1969 – July 23, 1997) was an American spree killer who murdered five people, including fashion designer Gianni Versace during a three-month period in 1997, ending with Cunanan's suicide, at age 27. On June 12, 1997, Cunanan became the 449th fugitive to be listed by the FBI on the Ten most Wanted list.

Curated by Gean Moreno and hosted by the South Florida Arts Center / The exhibit at the Freedom Tower in Dec. 2007 was a collaborative effort involving a new publication titled ”Contemporary Miami Artist”, authored by Julie Davidow & Pau Clemence.

IMAGE CREDIT:

1. 1)Bar Installed
   

2. 2)Bar Installed
   

3. 3)Three Framed Xerox’s:

4- ARTHUR McDUFFIE (1946-1979)

5- ELIAN GONZALEZ (1993-alive)

6- ANDREW CUNANAN (1969-1997)