Two Postmodern Nightmares

Video art is sometimes disengaging not because, as some critics suggest, we're biologically wired to follow more sequentially narrative forms. The problem is creating a "hook" to pull us in. Art, after all, is always a hook form, as Roland Barthes would have admitted -- only he called it punctum.

Karman Cubiña is developing an educational component at the Moore that I find promising. At the time of my visit there were a bunch of students visiting from DASH, the Design and Architecture Senior High School across the street from the Moore building. The kids were having real fun, singing along (karaoke-style) to Christian Jankowski's video. The Moore Space, along with sponsors Craig Robins and Rosa de la Cruz, has given some money to help artists develop educational tools to get kids involved with contemporary art. The student show that was on display in the projects-room section -- under the tutelage of George Sanchez -- looked pretty good considering they were all beginners. Indeed, of all the gallery spaces in Miami, the Moore has created a uniquely fluid, informal environment for learning that I've come to appreciate.