South Florida Originals

[Narrator 1] Art Loft is brought to you by... [Narrator 2] Where there is freedom, there is expression.

The Florida Keys and Key West.

[Narrator 1] The Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and the Board of County Commissioners, and the Friends of South Florida PBS.

[Narrator 3] "Art Loft," it's the pulse of what's happening in our own backyard, as well as the taste of the arts across the United States.

In this episode, South Florida Originals, we meet the man with eyes on Miami, a violinist melding classical training and soulful performances, and we head to Locust Projects' new home for their inaugural installation.

If you've heard the name, you certainly can't forget it.

Ahol Sniffs Glue is a South Florida original, born and raised in the 305.

We meet the artist, his fans, and learn how his project, Geographies of Trash, is changing his and other lives for the better.

Cool.

I think it's referred to as a social practice type of thing, where you're kind of working with mediums and people and things that you can't really control them, but you could kind of nudge the whole movement in a certain direction.

So this is gonna be the picture.

And I think when the intentions are pure and people can feel it, and like we are like the real Miami, in my opinion.

You can see people already hitting it up.

It's not a membership-based thing where you have to like buy your way into it.

I think that we're engaging our city right under everybody's noses the same way that graffiti exists or street art exists.

Dog, congrats dude.

Woo.

I was in halfway through a pub sub and then I saw the drop on Discord, and didn't even have time to change, just jumped on the bike, sprinted over here.

Like I got kind of had a feeling where it was at, like zooming in and checking out the pictures a little bit and happy I was at the right spot at the right time.

[David] Yeah.

[Aleric] Got it, bro.

My name is David Anasagasti, and I go by Ahol Sniffs Glue, and I paint on stuff, draw on things, and that's pretty much it.

In a way, it's a photography project, you know, like I go out, I find something that's interesting, I paint it and then based on like where it is, how it is, like I try to make the most like nicely framed picture that I possibly can with my cell phone.

But also giving you enough context where somebody that lives in that area or knows that area better would have dibs on figuring out where it is.

Let's show some love to Lil Havana.

Then I post the picture, I'll wait a minute later, and then I put it on Instagram, and I put it on Twitter, just to kind of like apply pressure, you know, to let them know like, hey, there's other people that might get to this first.

And that's pretty much it.

I usually try to do the whole entire thing and get out of there before they show up.

Look, somebody said they're a block away.

It's sick to have like a local artist make his art accessible and you know, eventually, my whole apartment will have these sleepy eyes everywhere.

Geographies of Trash happened from when I did a collaboration on a bicycle jersey with this company called Rafa.

They're like pretty big in the bike scene.

And I didn't want to push something that wasn't something that I was believing in.

I wasn't riding a bike.

I wasn't fit like or doing any, you know, active stuff.

And I told them, I was like, look, I want to get on a bike and try it out and see what's up.

So they helped me get a bike, and then I started riding the bike.

I got really heavily into it and like I was always painting on random things, you know, like it wasn't just like, oh, now I'm gonna start doing Geographies of Trash.

It was more of like that I just figured out a way of like, all right, if I'm on the bike and there's a bunch of trash laying around, even if the only person that sees it painted are people that drive by, or the person that picks it up, at least it's something cool to show, like.

But only until I started doing stuff with Anne and Jacek over there, like that's when we were like trying to figure out a way of creating something that was like with the incubator structure and they had access to like archiving things and everything and I was doing stuff with NFTs.

So I was like man, why not just mash it all together and do it that way?

'Cause then the project really is like something that just happened and it got steroids, it got crazy, and I just kept on feeding it.

I proposed to David that I would like him to come to the incubator and run his entrepreneurial residency.

So the trade was that he would essentially come with an idea that we're going to help him to crystallize through, you know, again many lenses, you know, bringing many specialists from the university, people from art history, people from museum side, and Geographies of Trash were kind of formulated through this process.

And as the part of his contribution, he was going to really help our young fellows here, students from many different departments at the university who are interested in entrepreneurship, to really look at their own projects and he would advise them.

The whole network kind of builds up a very kind of interesting possibility of bringing his expertise, bringing his natural kind of serial entrepreneurial talent to push these young people to trust in themselves, to walk away from fear of failing.

'Cause I think that's what David doesn't have.

David's work ethic is unbelievable.

And I think that it's really one of the many, many gifts he's given to our incubator fellows by having us with him is that he is relentless in how he pursues his work and how he distributes it, how he reaches out and builds community, and basically gives our fellows an example to model in their own careers, you know, to really understand what it takes to be an independent artist.

Regardless of whatever support they might have in their careers, they still have to own their own path and build their own journey.

It was something that I felt that I could tend it, and do it, and it was kind of like this postcard via trash that was coming out of Miami.

But like there are like a lot of things that people look down on in, you know, Web 3 or in crypto and NFTs.

But I feel that that's not where we're at with it.

I feel that we're using it for its original intention, which is to archive and to document.

And for me, the more that I focus on that project, the more that it gets me back on the bicycle.

So that's what I get out of it.

Like I make no money off of the trash.

It's more of like creating like this movement, and via that movement we're creating community, and there's people from all walks of life, and for me that's priceless.

The image is the picture that I initially took that I take that and I put it as the NFT picture.

I put the title, which is from the last one from the collection and I add one to it.

I embed the Instagram link into the NFT.

So that way forever, that conversation that happened during that hunt is still there.

And then I put the type of object that it is, the medium and the location and I feel that's enough to document the trash piece, and then I send it right back to them for free, you know.

There's plenty of trash out there, but the more unique and the more specifically cool thing and the more that I think of like, this will look cool in somebody's house, or this will look cool somebody trying to get this into their house, you know.

So those are the things that kind of like, you know, make me decide on what it is that I'm gonna paint.

But also like knowing that I'm giving people this opportunity to get something.

Put this back.

Like I start thinking about like man, like somebody threw this out here without having no idea what was gonna happen.

And it kind of makes this like fairytale story of like that how far can we elevate this thing?

No matter if they joined in a week, if they joined a year ago, it turns out in like a couple days everybody acts like they've been here forever.

It's like a family thing almost, with trash though.

It's just, it's really humbling, you know, to be a part of something so, so beautiful.

And I see it's gonna be a long lasting thing just like our city, you know.

Nah, I would never think to bring trash home, you know.

Like especially going through the pandemic, with how everything was going, you're thinking picking up trash?

But in the same time, it's like such a cool experience that everybody's trying to get into it.

And then the NFT aspect is just another whole other level for it.

It's another verification.

This guy is a force.

You know, he's inspirational.

I'm an artist as well, like a lot of these guys, and you know, I have this stuff hanging around my house.

So I walk around and it's like, it's motivation for me.

I'm like this guy, look what he does, you know.

And it pushes me, you know, so there's a lot behind this project that I like, and it's like, you know, you don't wanna miss it.

You know, like you don't wanna miss seeing something, 'cause there's so many things.

It's a nice big family community of trash lovers.

We would've not known each other, other than the art itself.

Yeah.

So it's a cyclical support system that we have, organically speaking.

The trash brought us together.

Yeah, the trash brought us together.

Yeah, the trash brought us together.

This type of creating a space for people with some sort of like, incentive to be there or to collect, you know.

I think that that's something that, there's so many different things that could be done.

But I feel to be able to do it via trash, via just giving time to this, like, I feel it's time well spent, you know.

And only time will tell if I'm diluting myself or if it's a big disaster or whatever.

But in the meantime, I feel that this is an experiment.

We're talking about a guy which sold 1,500 paintings.

What?

What?

I never sold 1,500 paintings or not even 1,500 posters of anything, you know.

David doesn't exist.

He's like a white unicorn, you know.

He's different than the rest, you know, and humble.

He doesn't even own a car.

He doesn't care.

He doesn't need a car.

You know, he has his bicycle.

He's a powerful artist, very powerful.

You know, I admire David, you know.

He's like, for me, he's like my son, you know.

David's like my son, yeah.

That's what I can say.

I've been working with Alfred I think like four years.

I was with other galleries, a bunch of 'em, and Alfred was more of like a regular dude that I felt was like, you know, down to earth and I brought him a couple of pieces.

He moved them, then I started taking stuff out of other galleries, and then just brought 'em here and been here ever since.

Dude's been looking out for me, so it's pretty cool.

He's gonna be in every museum and he's gonna be in the big pages of the history of art.

I saw the same thing.

Warhol was the same thing, you know, they were 30, $40,000, you know, in 1970s, you know.

And then now, you know, you pay 40, $50 million for those things, you know.

It's the same kind of stuff, you know.

Grabbed this fine piece of wood.

That's pretty much it.

All right, taking a flick.

What up, dog?

He's been part of the Discord a couple months now, and he has maybe like seven pieces by now.

We've implemented a bunch of different rules as we've gone, just because like the project isn't bulletproof, but we do everything we can to keep it fair and the whole democratize like, you know, thing like on the forefront.

So like you can only get one a day.

If you get more than one a day, like the community hates on you for doing that.

So it's a matter of like figuring out ways of implementing things that could keep the thing moving smoother and it just doesn't become like me doing office work on the street.

You know, we've tried a bunch of different things.

A lot of things did not work.

But I feel that where it's at right now, it's really like working on its own with the nudging of me and the moderators as well.

So the moderators, they're four dudes.

They're friends.

They're awesome.

They're fans.

They're believers in this thing.

And they help orchestrate all this stuff.

And it takes a lot of likeminded people to want to do this.

I think like when we did the Wolfsonian, the little, we called it The People's Bunker, when we wrapped up, you know, the guardhouse, there was an ability to put light inside of it.

Well, what color did we pick?

All right, we'll vote on it every other day and figure out what light, what color we change it.

It doesn't mean much to the outside world, but the ones that are in our community, it shows that like you matter, you know, and like your time is valuable.

Even the person that threw away the trash matters too, in this case.

The community grew itself, and we just gave the tools to let it flourish as much as it did so far.

The way I see this project is more of a community building, and we help each other,, and it's very grassroot based here in Miami.

And I think we all came together, otherwise, through the Discord where we wouldn't meet each other, or we come from different walks of life, and we wouldn't have met each other on the street if it wasn't for this Discord.

And this Discord brings people from all walks of life.

Everybody's here and thanks a lot for coming through.

We are at the trial theater here in the Gables.

It brings me joy, you know, like genuine joy to hear some of these people share their feelings on a platform for other people to see and be open and for them to know like, I don't know what's going on with your regular life, but you got this here and you're a part of it.

On top of which of course, like Dave's sobriety and his journey and his sobriety and how I've had my own and how I've had a history of that in my family.

And so, I definitely just resonated with Dave on a lot of different levels, and I just wanted to help the guy out however I could.

And it really is my beacon of life for me in my life a lot of times.

And I know it is for a lot of people and I think it should be shared with the world, you know, as much as I can.

And so, that's why I'm here doing it, you know.

His sobriety, I think that has made a huge impact on his art and he's huge influence in a lot of people.

And right now, he's an example of somebody that has come out of a situation and become a much better human being.

Like, I'm gonna, I'm not giving up, you know, 'cause I'm giving up on myself.

And I did that already enough.

Geographies of Trash, art cycled by David Anasagasti and Ahol Sniffs Glue, from me the mayor and commission of the city of North Miami Beach do hereby claim today Geographies of Trash Day to honor and to recognize this new project.

Simply him being here and having ideas like Geographies of Trash inspires other such projects.

So David himself is inspirational, but this project is even more so.

And that our students and faculty and myself included are inspired by his creativity and his commitment to our community.

I think that the moment that we're in right now is so unique on so many different levels.

And to think that we're activating this, you know, this trash, whether people like it or not, like we're gonna exist.

If you're cooking, you gotta give attention to every single one of the burners.

And I think that that's something that's one of my strengths to make sure that, if I give something the time of day, I'm gonna see it to the end, you know.

And this thing is far from done, so.

[Narrator 3] We met Violinist Muselle at our season premiere event with commissioner, celebrating the front room exhibit at the New World School of the Arts, where she sat down for a conversation with us and shared a performance.

Because this exhibit is really focused on that feeling of home and what it means to grow up in Miami and grow up in this community, I decided it would be really nice to incorporate a lot of songs and music that is familiar to people from my generation growing up on like the early 2000s to like 2010s.

What would it have felt like when you came home from school in elementary, or what would've been playing on the radio when you were in high school?

So I really wanted to focus on that so it feels authentic to home.

My name is Lee.

I go by the artist name Muselle and I'm a professional multigenre and interdisciplinary violinist.

So I am classically trained, but as an artist, as I've grown in postgraduate, I've really branched out into a more eclectic style performance and music.

So the stuff I'll be working on can range from house music to jazz, it can be country, it can be fiddling, it's whatever feels good or is inspiring.

And it's usually collaborative work, because I love learning from other people and that's how I get to discover these new things that are outside of just a classical situation.

I started out in performing arts school from like elementary to high school, and that was very traditional for the most part.

Like there's certain rules of classical music.

You don't improv.

You're not adding things to stuff.

You're doing the repertoire as it's written, and the way it was intended to be played from like 200 years ago.

But what was special was that all of my conductors were band people.

At the core, they were band musicians.

So they still had that little bit of creativity where although we were performing and learning music in a very specific format, they still brought something else that made me curious.

And that's where that curiosity started.

It's consistently changing.

It's consistently evolving.

But definitely in the realm of performance art.

That's something that I really enjoy.

So if you see me around, it's definitely gonna be in this capacity.

Collaborative projects, performance art.

That's really what I enjoy and that's what I love spending my time.

[Narrator 3] Next, we head to Locust Project's new home in Little River for its first exhibit.

Raphael Domenech's large scale installation assembling beneath a desire for sabotage.

Sabotage in this context doesn't necessarily have a negative connotation, but actually a very positive one which is challenging notions of what an exhibition is or what it means to gather in space.

Instead of making objects, the goal of exhibition is actually to make spaces.

One of the things that we did was to completely shift the timeline of an exhibition from a institutional perspective.

And we said, we're gonna allow public to come while the exhibition is in transition.

And what the reason is that the exhibition is always in transition.

There's no finished state.

There's no conclusions.

So we had a conversation with Talia about process.

Then we have the social factory workshop that, while the exhibition was still being installed, parts of it people came and participated almost as workers within the framework.

There's actually an inline process.

So you operate as a group.

So then we had the 25th anniversary dinner.

So it's always in transition.

Why then to create a mark of this is the opening?

No, there's no opening.

I mean, a project begins when there starts a conversation between someone from an institution contacts you, right?

That's a moment a project begins.

That's the real sort of opening of an exhibition.

Art is a platform that allows for a speculation, and speculation in the form of trying to look at the future.

Is it architecture?

No, it's not architecture.

Is it design?

No, it's not design.

It's all of it, but it's none of it.

That's what the art platform allows you to do, right?

It allows you to to sort of grab things from other mediums, other professions, and sort of blend it in a way that it's about speculating.

My hope is that one day someone comes and just says, oh, I'm just gonna use this as my office for the day like they'd go to Starbucks.

It creates a privacy within the public setting.

And it's no different as when you walk into a plaza or you walk into a park.

You understand that there's rules and regulations in place.

So it's about how do you deal with those?

The exhibition tries to open up the dynamics of what Locust says.

Locust already has a relationship to an audience, a relationship to a history.

A project like this wouldn't function in any other place.

You can only envision the future here.

That only happens in incubators like Locust Projects.

"Art Loft" is on Instagram at artloftsfl.

Tag us in your art adventures.

Find full episode segments and more at artloftsfl.org, and on YouTube at South Florida PBS.

[Narrator 1] Art Loft is brought to you by... [Narrator 2] Where there is freedom, there is expression.

The Florida Keys and Key West.

[Narrator 1] The Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and the Board of County Commissioners, and the Friends of South Florida PBS.