Art Basel, like a muffin top peaking out of too-tight jeans, is spilling out beyond the convention center. It's now like Fantastic Fest or Mardi Gras, a week-long madness that takes over an entire city. This year, it's causing giant jellyfish to attack Lincoln Road, giving Hello Kitty a gas mask, and inspiring cuttlefish to mate inside the Wolfsonian. And now it's even cracked open that art cinema in Wynwood, which was supposed to open last August. Basel is like that pink goo in Ghostbusters that animates everything it touches.
O Cinema attained a special permit to screen films during Art Basel. The interior is practically complete, according to one of the founders Kareem Tabsch, who also says they hope to open for good not too long after Basel in late December. This Wednesday, their inaugural film will be Scissors and Glue: The Miami Project, a documentary where a German gallerist explores Wynwood and the Design District and interviews everyone from the doorman at Churchill's to Miami Art Museum director Thom Collins. It also confronts the beginnings and impact of Art Basel on our tropical hometown.
With the hope exposing Miami's art renaissance, Scissors and Glue follows Helmut
Schuster on his journey from gallery owner in Berlin to the founding of
his new Gallery Schuster in Miami. Wednesday's screening will be a
first-draft cut of the film and will be followed by a Q&A with the
filmmakers as well as cocktails in the O patio. Here's the docx's trailer:
Why christen O Cinema with a screening of Scissors and Glue? Tabsch
says "It was a film done with a truly DIY independent approach, and
that's what O Cinema is all about--celebrating the innovation and
artistry of independent artists and filmmakers. I can't think of a
better way to celebrate Miami Art Week and offer up a seek peak at O
Cinema than showcase an indie films that's giving love to or city, our
hood, and the amazing art that's created and exhibited all around us."
In the O gallery, look for work by contemporary artists including New York based artists TMNK (AKA Nobody) and mixed-media artist Sean
Naftel whose Free Art Stand offers free art works to the general public.
Also showing this week at O is Beyond Biba, a documentary about British
fashion designer and Miami Beach design guru Barbara Hulanicki - in
conjunction with the corresponding exhibit of her illustrations next
door at Calix Gustav Gallery.
Scissors and Glue screens Wednesday at 7 and 9:30 p.m., with additional
screening times through Sunday. Beyond Biba screens Sunday at 9:30 p.m.
O Cinema is located at 90 NW 29th Street in Miami. All screenings are free. Visit o-cinema.org.
