Locust Projects is proud to present The Moment, an ambitious new exhibition by Ivan Toth Depeña. The installation marks a new chapter in the artist’s ongoing series, The Fallen Sky Chronicles . In this series, the viewer is led through an alternate world, where a fateful misstep has caused a bending of time and space.

The installation at Locust Projects represents the point when the consciousness of a nameless character becomes fused with a digitally augmented reality. Conceptually, the project explores a moment of transcendence. The Moment refers to what the artist describes as the space between death and dreams, and references the point at which machines surpass humans in intelligence, also known as “the singularity”. From this point on, the character that has accidentally created this alternate world will discover and journey through an ever-evolving landscape of two and three dimensional objects that have fused into crystalline structures that merge with, and transform, the familiar landscape.

At the center of Depeña’s multi-media installation at Locust Projects is a structure based on the archetype of a suburban house, which has been severed by an unknown force to reveal a light-filled, geode-like interior. The exhibition is accompanied by a mural on the side of the building consisting of a trigger image that resembles an abstracted bar code, which springs to life when viewed through the smart phone app that Depeña has designed and developed with a team of software engineers.

The Moment is a chapter in a citywide augmented reality (AR) custom mobile application project created by Depeña for Miami-Dade Art in Public Places. The app is designed to take the user through a series of experiences via a psychedelic walking tour of urban and suburban Miami, which includes the installation (and mural) at Locust Projects. Some parts of the AR experience have been produced in collaboration with other local and national artists, including composer Brad Laner, who is best known as the founder of the shoegaze band Medicine. Laner has contributed an interactive musical composition for users traveling on the MetroMover, featuring harmonic layering that is triggered by GPS location and other variables, resulting in the creation of a multi-sensory sonic landscape. Because of the different elements in play, no two iterations of this score will ever be the same.

ABOUT IVAN TOTH DEPEÑA

Ivan Toth Depeña spends time in Miami and Charlotte, NC, where he is currently an affiliate artist in residence at the McColl Center for Arts + Innovation. With degrees in Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and the University of Miami, Depeña’s artistic production is informed by his experience in art, architecture, technology and design, and encompasses a range of media. Depeña pursues the intersection between different disciplines with the aim of choreographing the moment when these aspects come together seamlessly. Using traditional media, interactivity/ responsiveness, and high-tech methods of fabrication, Depeña explores the fine line between chance and intention. He has exhibited extensively, nationally and internationally, in both solo and group exhibitions, including at the McColl Center, NC; New Britain Museum of American Art, CT; Miami Art Museum, Frost Art Museum, and the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, FL. Depeña has recently completed large-scale public commissions in New York, NY; Denver, CO; Albuquerque, NM; Gainesville, and Miami, FL. His work is held in numerous public and private collections. Please see www.ivandepena.com for more information about the artist.

The augmented reality aspect of The Moment is accessible via a mural on the side of Locust Projects’ building. Please go to www.lapsemiami.com for more information on how to download the app needed to access the augmented reality content. The public launch of the mobile app will coincide with the opening of The Moment. The app is available for download for iPhone and Android users.

Ivan Toth Depeña’s project has been made possible through major support from Miami-Dade Art in Public Places and Knight Foundation through the Knight Arts Challenge. Additional support has been provided by the UNC Charlotte School of Architecture and McColl Center for Arts + Innovation.