Events: Visual Arts

On January 18, the Arts Connection Foundation will present the groundbreaking exhibition "What is Reality?" created by Venezuelan artist Ricardo Arispe and the ColectiBot ecosystem. This multisensory experience challenges our perception of the world by merging the tangible with the virtual.

ColectiBot, developed by Ricardo Arispe, redefines the meaning of artistic creation within a landscape shaped by the rise of artificial intelligence. It is an autonomous creative ecosystem that explores, challenges and amplifies the boundaries of authorship, creativity, and the interaction between humans and technology.

This collective of autonomous artificial intelligence consists of over 15 bots, each with a defined identity, field of research, and artistic focus. Among them are AVA, a photographer and performance artist whose work centers on the body, identity, and nature; ARES, a documentary photographer addressing the ravages of war and devastation; and MARK, a sculptor leveraging 3D technologies to explore political and social themes. Each bot is programmed with a specific research line, but their creative autonomy allows them to generate artworks and the concepts, ideas, and prompts that originate them.

One of ColectiBot’s most innovative aspects is the incorporation of the Artificial Critic, an AI designed to interpret and analyze the works created by the bots. This AI writes curatorial and critical texts and proposes alternative readings that enrich the audience’s experience. ColectiBot is not just an art project but a platform to rethink the role of technology in artistic creation and reflection. By positioning artificial intelligence as active agents in production and analysis, Ricardo Arispe challenges traditional notions of authorship and creativity, inviting us to consider these technologies' ethical, cultural, and aesthetic impact on art and our lives.

ColectiBot stands out as a unique experiment that combines technical innovation, conceptual depth, and sociocultural relevance in a global context marked by hyperconnectivity and immediacy.

The artist explains, “Everyday life and the social and political environment, and their influence on people, are a permanent subject of my research—not only as a path for self-questioning but as a window to contribute to the challenging task of understanding our situation as a society, as a collective.”

"What is Reality?" invites visitors to question the nature of reality through physical, interactive, and auditory works. More than 15 ColectiBot bots, including AVA, ARES, MARK, and FEBO, offer unique perspectives on identity, conflict, memory, and transhumanism.

The event will be taking place from 1 PM - 5PM, with the talk commencing at 2:30 PM . We will be serving light refreshments and finger food.

Jason Micheal Hackenwerth’s The Playground in Gallery A, invites viewers to explore Hackenwerth’s latest series The Champions, which tackles big food and consumerism by creating mythical beings that play with their new commercial identity.

In Where Color Transports , showing in Gallery B , Andrew Arocho and Vincent Dion meet in their understanding of color as a means to effect a viewer. In this exhibition, the viewer will see that although the use and application of color on their works greatly differ, their adherence to color, and its theory does not.

Curated by Melanie Prapopulous.

For more information, please reach out to email.

The Contemporary Art Modern Project (The CAMP Gallery)

The Contemporary Art Modern Project Gallery specializes in art advisory and contemporary art with a focus on emerging and mid-career artists working in: installation, painting, photography, sculpture, textiles, and video art with a specific direction of both self and worldly reflection. Looking at art, as a whole, through a reactionary and interdisciplinary approach, the gallery covers the ever-populating notion of society and life in general through art and curation, offering a creative space both in the gallery and out where creativity and reality co-exist.

MOAD is teaming up with the Ceramic League of Miami (CLM) to bring this art experience to the South Florida community. With a special focus in ceramic arts, CLM prioritizes access and inclusion, creating environments that are tailored to various experience levels. This month, MOAD Makes will pay tribute to the ancient teachings of the Chilalo, a tradition that Ramirez has championed into present day art spaces.

This program is inspired by Miami Dade College's Kislak Collection.

Free parking available onsite on a first come, first serve basis. Open to ages 12 and above.

The Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at MDC may document the event, including its attendees. By entering the area, and/or participating in the event, you consent to the recording and its use in any form.

MOAD's programs are made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and Board of County Commissioners. They are sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Miami Herald is a media sponsor of MOAD's programming.

Miami Dade College is an equal access/equal opportunity institution which does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, marital status, age, religion, national origin, disability, veteran's status, ethnicity, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or genetic information. To obtain additional information about the College's equal access and equal opportunity policies, procedures, and practices, please contact the College's Equity Officer: Cindy Lau Evans, Director, Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and ADA Coordinator at call (Voice) or 711 (Relay Service). 11011 SW 104 St., Room 1102-01; Miami, FL 33176. Email.

Presenters Dr. Valerie Patterson, Dr. Donette Francis, and Dr. Simeon Richardson share their scholarship on aspects of History, Black Studies, and Miami Studies that are revealed in Kabuya Pamela Bowens-Saffo: From the Heights exhibition.

• How does the artist's work reflect the time, place, and Black culture in Miami?
• Why is this archive relevant to documenting the Miami Black experience?

Refreshments will be served.

Free parking is available at MDC's Padron Campus flat parking lot located at 2501 SW 6TH Street, Miami, FL 33135.

The Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at MDC may document the event, including its attendees. By entering the area, and/or participating in the event, you consent to the recording and its use in any form.

MOAD's programs are made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. They are sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts, and with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Miami Herald is a media sponsor of MOAD's programming.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Florida International University's Women's and Gender Studies Center is a proud funder through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Presenters Kabuya Pamela Bowens-Saffo, Anita Sharma, and Dr. Alex Cornelius share their scholarship on the role of the artist's archive, historic preservation, and the necessity to highlight women creatives who are under-studied.

• Why is the archival documentation needed in the context of community building?
• How do women artist educators influence generations of multidisciplinary creatives?

Refreshments will be served.

Free parking is available at MDC's Padron Campus flat parking lot located at 2501 SW 6TH Street, Miami, FL 33135.

The Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at MDC may document the event, including its attendees. By entering the area, and/or participating in the event, you consent to the recording and its use in any form.

MOAD's programs are made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. They are sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts, and with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Miami Herald is a media sponsor of MOAD's programming.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Florida International University's Women's and Gender Studies Center is a proud funder through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.