M3 Visual Arts Festival: An Insiders’ View
Written by Rachel Prince   
By: Rachel Prince
Photos: Emily Walsch

For this year’s M3 Visual Arts Festival, we will again feature artists whose works address the role of emerging technologies in the future of art. Last year, we organized interactive and multimedia installations that demonstrated the wide range of Miami-based and international artists working with alternative media. The Visual Arts Festival showcases design work through a combination of film screenings, installations, video projections, live video mixing, and live painting.

It is exciting to share our knowledge of fine and urban art with an audience that is ready to absorb and explore all elements of creativity. M3 has given us the opportunity to experiment with both the artist selection and presentation in a city that welcomes visual arts. Miami is experiencing a huge art explosion right now, with major collectors opening their arms to support the burgeoning local art scene as well as the introduction of art fairs such as Art Basel Miami Beach, Scope, and NADA. Our M3 visual arts program is a new annual institution that fits seamlessly into Miami’s developing art network.



We endeavor to provide the cutting edge of visual arts to complement the sonic experience of M3 participants. To that end, we exhibit artists who are open to exploring unconventional media and presentation. Last March, we asked Jamaican artist Storm Saulter to create a live painting performance combining video projection and traditional painting. As Saulter created an 8 x 8 foot mural, a four minute video loop flickered over his developing painting. Also last year, a custom live painting was created for M3 by BOOKS I, a Miami based stencil artist. His painting drew a satirical parallel between social gatherings today and those of the Victorian era, his work brought a playful twist to the idea of traditional art in an untraditional setting.

This integration of multimedia and classic materials embodies the overall concept underlying the summit. In 2004 we organized Girls on Film, a group photography exhibition at Miami Beach Cinematheque which hosted the film screening section of the Festival. Films from Palm Pictures and Tom Dowd, including Language of Music and DIG!, were screened at Cinematheque throughout the week.

This year the film portion of the visual arts festival will feature works from Resfest and Jeff Mills. On Thursday March 24 at the Cinematheque, Resfest will present animations, shorts, and music videos yet to be released, followed by a Q&A session with the directors. On Friday March 25th , The Three Ages – Buster Keaton’s first film, with a new score by producer Jeff Mills – will screen and also be followed by a Q&A session with Mr. Mills. (See film listings section for full schedule of this year’s screenings).

Another essential element of M3’s visual arts program is live VJ performances, realized by artists who “scratch” and mix images from their laptops and project them onto large screens. During these performances, moving images are blended together and become enmeshed in a style similar to that of audio DJs combining songs. In 2004, both Honeygun Labs and EJ K (EJ Enterprises) mixed live shows at the Doubletree Surfcomber. In 2005 we will once again have a live VJ show by EJ K, and will also feature Tetsuro Mise/ Vanillamania.

From a curatorial standpoint, one of the most exciting features of the Visual Arts Festival is the variety of unorthodox spaces in which to program artworks and commission custom installations. This year works will be presented in the lobby, outdoor entrance, and on digital screens at the Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel. Installations will merge effortlessly into the overall presentation of the M3 Summit, visually reinforcing its key concepts of music, sun, and celebration.

The M3 Visual Arts Festival is a unique opportunity to visually exemplify the groundbreaking concept of the M3. As its curators, we feel a responsibility to represent local and international artists whose works explore the ever-blurring line between creative and technological forms, producing art that endeavors to eradicate the boundaries dividing these disciplines.