Locust Projects presents And so with ends comes beginnings, a video by Miami-based artist Antonia Wright that will be presented at UNTITLED ART FAIR viewable on a floating video screen on November 29, from 4-6pm at Lummus Park Beach.

Shot when the artist was 9 months pregnant, the video is a metaphor for the dualities of ecstasy and anxiety of living in a paradise for ground-zero sea-level rise. First, one sees a pregnant body floating above the surface as it slowly sinks below the water level. Then tower cranes emerge in the frame. These ubiquitous instruments on the South Florida urban landscape are the first objects erected on any construction site. Without a proper sustainability plan the city is being hastily developed, yet the stomach is a buoyant shelter; its round, soft shape suggests a place of safety in contrast to the rigidity of the machinery.

Bringing everything back to the body, the layered audio includes Wright’s breath, an experimental jazz composition by Jason Ajemian, and sounds from labor, which are used to create an intimate, life- affirming soundscape juxtaposed with angst. The sound dimension underscores the resilience of living as the breathing continues, almost as if it is possible underwater. The video's silver and gold color palette ironically mimics the opulent surfaces of these newly built luxury condos. The global unconstrained urban development devoid of proper ecological sense of caution leads to this visual metaphor of simultaneous creation and destruction— it is an emblem of fecundity in times of erasure of the natural order.

And so with ends comes beginnings is made possible with support from a WaveMaker grant from Locust Projects. WaveMaker Grants are made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts' Regional Regranting Program, a network of 32 partner organizations across the country.

ABOUT LOCUST PROJECTS

Founded by artists for artists in 1998, Locust Projects is Miami’s longest running nonprofit alternative art space. We produce, present, and nurture ambitious and experimental new art and the exchange of ideas through commissioned exhibitions and projects, artist residencies, summer art intensives for teens, and public programs on contemporary art and curatorial practice. As a leading incubator of new art and ideas, Locust Projects emphasizes boundary-pushing creative endeavors, risk-taking and experimentation by local, national and international artists. We invest in South Florida’s arts community by providing artists with project grants and empower creative careers by supporting the administrative work of being an artist through an onsite artist resource hub and access to pro bono legal services.