What's the difference between art and design? This wasn't always a question that hung heavily on Miamians' minds. However, we're living in a new South Florida where people are actually wandering around contemplating the complexities of visual concepts. So while watching a culture of friends blurring the lines between art and design, jewelry designer Nektar De Stagni and Gallery Diet owner Nina Johnson thought to bring together talents for a new project, "Hard Poems in Space."
In workshops earlier this summer, participants created functional objects that will be displayed in conjunction with a series of dinners and performances, uniting folks in the communal exhibition space at de Stagni's NDS Shop. Activist and Venice Biennale Golden Lion award winner Paola Pivi has created candies that read, "Free Tibet." And Martin Oppel's tilted bar offers a skewed perspective on mixing cocktails. Other participating artists include Bhakti Baxter, Agathe Snow, Gean Moreno, Ernesto Oroza, Christy Gast, Jim Drain, Fabienne Lasserre, Confetti System, Dennis Palazzolo, and Aranda\Lasch. See the objects straddling the art and design line in "Hard Poems" through December.
Sept. 8-Dec. 31, 7 p.m., 2011