leandro erlich raises climate change awareness with traffic jam installation in miami

anyone who’s been in miami for art week in december knows that the massive contemporary art bonanza is fun, but that the traffic chaos it creates is annoying — to say the least — especially at the beach. for the 2019 edition of miami art week, the city of miami beach presents a surreal public art installation by argentinian conceptual artist leandro erlich called order of importance that aims to raise awareness of this problem and its relationship to climate change.

(above) image © leandro erlich studio
(main) image courtesy of greg lotus

set on miami’s oceanfront at lincoln road, order of importance by leandro erlich recasts our 21st century reality as 66 life-sized sculptures of cars and trucks queue at an imaginary stand still. shaped in sand, the artwork gives a sense of the fragile moment we’re living and takes us into the future as this could easily be a future relic of our civilization.

image © designboom

‘climate change and its consequences are no longer a matter of perspective or opinion,’ comments leandro erlich. ‘the climate crisis has become an objective problem that requires immediate solutions. as an artist, I am in a constant struggle to make people aware of this reality, in particular, the idea that we cannot shrink away from our responsibilities to protect the planet.’

image © designboom

known for merging elements of sculpture, architecture, and theater to disrupt the audience’s natural view of the world, order of importance is erlich’s largest installation to date. the site-specific work was curated by miami-based ximena caminos, and brandi reddick, cultural affairs manager at the city of miami beach.

image © designboom

‘erlich has an uncanny ability to encourage us to take pause and reflect upon how we view the world around us,’ says caminos. ‘by defying our perceptions, his work makes us question reality. apart from its surreal beauty and poetry, order of importance, like an image from a contemporary pompeii, or a future relic, also alludes to our fragile position in the large universal canvas. it interacts with the climate crisis facing the world, particularly the rising sea level.’

image © designboom

‘my goal as a curator is to create acts of urban acupuncture that harness the force of art as a tool for change to promote the cross pollination of ideas and civic engagement through public programming and world-class activations,’ she continues. ‘today we’re relying on our cities to be at the forefront of social innovation and the city of miami beach, with its inclusive and innovative spirit, is playing a strong leadership role in instilling urgency in this conversation and the collaboration with their team has been extraordinary.’

image © designboom