Alejandra Von Hartz Gallery

For the exhibition Luna Park, Alejandra von Hartz Gallery has invited six Miami artists to produce functional lighting objects and/or realistic schemes for ambient illumination. In other words, they have been invited not so much to produce artsy, one-of-a-kind lamps as to develop well-thought prototypes that can be mass-produce and exist in the world much like any other designed object must. The artists have been invited to consider all the possibilities that are opened by any number of vibrant spaces--from the family room to the corporate lobby, from the themed club or restaurant to the university dorm, from the corner cafeteria to the outdoor promenade--that exist beyond the safe-zones through which art objects usually circulate.

Along with producing prototypes, the artists have been invited to consider the way in which their works will be presented. Display itself is being considered here as an active element in the way that objects go out into the world, in the way that an initial context determines the many other contexts that they may potentially exist in.

It is also important to point out that the project aims to go that one step beyond where projects of this nature usually stall. A real effort will be made to have these prototypes mass-produced, to look for design firms or sponsors that may be interested in manufacturing them in large editions. The gamble here is not only to have artists think outside their comfort zone, but to allow the objects they produce to enter those channels of commerce and negotiation that objects that are not considered works of art are funneled through. Rather than skirting the currents of everyday exchange, these objects will be flung right into them to see how well they manage.