Panel: Between Architecture and the Body – Inclusive Futurism in Art. Presented by YoungArts

10 Dec, 1:30–2:15pm

The Untitled Art Podcast Lounge

Artists Hanna Ali, Leo Castaneda, Lee Pivnik and James Allister Sprang discuss intersections of their practices in relation to technology, architecture, virtual space, archiving, Diaspora storytelling, and positioning towards speculative futurism. Moderated by Heike Dempster, Director of Engagement and Outreach at YoungArts.

About the Panelists

Growing up in Miami, Hanna Ali quickly realized life was a provocation mix of culture. As a reflection of her experiences in art, architecture and industrial design, she often is driven by nature and futurism— using high level visualization to build narrative- physical and digital worlds. As Hanna delved deeper into the design field, she became aware of the underrepresentation of women-led stories and voices. This realization ignited a desire within her to challenge the status quo and establish her own platform, Hoechitecture—an innovative spatial design studio. Through Hoechitecture, Hanna aims to amplify the narratives of women and marginalized communities, infusing their perspectives into her designs. Now, she returns to her roots, telling her own stories and creating sustainable spaces that foster empathy and connection. Her work transcends boundaries, offering glimpses into the future while amplifying underrepresented voices. With her unique blend of artistry and innovation, she creates thought-provoking and awe-inspiring experiences. Hanna has previously collaborated with artists such as: Kerby Jean-Raymond,Kehlani, Diplo, and Kanye. She formerly worked for the Office of Metropolitan Architecture ( OMA/AMO*) founded by starchitect Rem Koolhaas. Pop up collaborations include Ghetto Ghastro, Vega by Ceej, and Jeblanc.

Leo Castañeda (b. 1988, Colombia) is a multimedia artist video game designer exploring interdependent and posthuman interaction design. His artwork primarily takes form in episodic games and immersive installations that meld Latin-American Surrealist painting, virtual reality, augmented reality, wearables, video, and sculptural furniture. Castañeda is a 2023 Knight Arts + Technology Fellow, 2023 YoungArts Artist Technology Fellow, 2022 Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute Praxis Projects, and a 2022 Harpo Foundation grantee. He is a former resident of the Bronx Museum AIM Program, SOMA Mexico City, Oolite Arts, and Khoj International Artists Association in New Delhi India. He has exhibited at Haus der elektronischen Künste Basel; Espacio ArtNexus Bogotá; Children’s Museum of Manhattan; Digital Museum of Digital Art, Indiegrits; South Florida Cultural Consortium; Locust Projects, Miami; Frost Museum of Science; and Museo de Arte Moderno La Tertulia, Colombia. His work has been featured across Rhizome, ArtNexus, Killscreen, El Pais, El Nuevo Herald, Spike Art Magazine, and Vice. In 2022 Castañeda launched Miami’s first fine-art video game studio, Otro Inventario. He is currently a resident at the Bakehouse Arts Complex in Miami.

Lee Pivnik (b. 1995) is an artist living in Miami, Florida. He works across mediums, often returning to sculpture, video, and social practice. His artwork takes inspiration from living systems and other species to imagine a future that is based on mutualistic relationships instead of extractive economies. Permeating his practice is the idea of entanglement – the touching, changing, mutating relationships between species and landscapes. It is through these intimacies that worlds arise —worlds of decay and degradation, or verdant flourishing. His drawings, sculptures, and installations share this relational quality, referencing fungal networks, epiphytic plants, and emergent animal architectures that inhabit South Florida. He co-directs the Institute of Queer Ecology, an ever-evolving collaborative organism that brings peripheral solutions to environmental degradation to the forefront of public consciousness. IQECO projects are interdisciplinary but grounded in the theoretical framework of queer ecology, a tool for understanding ourselves, our environments, our biologies, and our collaborations through queer lenses. In 2022 he began a long term project called Symbiotic House, which reimagines the home as a potential site for climate care. Symbiotic House will grow into a natureculture learning center to inspire local transformation towards regenerative design. The project spawns from a personal desire to continue dwelling in a climate precarious city, through crafting ecological reciprocity.

The son of Caribbean immigrants, Sprang considers his relationship to Diasporic timelines while weaving together his multimedia work, to create sensory poems for the spirit. This work is informed by the Black interior as well as radical and experimental traditions. Sprang’s work lives in gallery spaces, theater spaces and the space between the ears. In 2022, Sprang was awarded both the Pew Fellowship and the Knight Foundation Art + Tech Fellowship for his work with the only 4DSound system in America. A graduate of the Cooper Union (BFA) and the University of Pennsylvania (MFA), Sprang has completed numerous residencies domestically and internationally including MONOM, Shandaken, YoungArts, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Public Theater, BHQFU, Fountainhead, FringeArts and The Kitchen. Sprang has shown and/or performed at The Brooklyn Museum, TATE Museum, PAFA Museum, The Aldrich Museum, The Kitchen, Storm King Art Center, The Public Theater, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Margulies Collection, David Nolan Gallery, The Apollo Theater, Pioneer Works, On The Boards, Northwest Film Forum, Knockdown Center and The Painted Bride Art Center.

Heike Dempster is an art writer, arts administrator, curator and artist collaborator. After graduation from London Metropolitan University in London, UK and the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, Dempster lived and worked as a writer, TV and radio host, and producer in Jamaica and the Bahamas. In 2012, she relocated to Miami, FL where she works in interdisciplinary arts administration as Director of Engagement and Outreach at YoungArts and has made a name as an art writer, consultant, and a respected member of the arts community. She also works in international artist management with Amir Shariat representing artists Damon Davis, Alexandre Diop, Basil Kincaid, Ardeshir Tabrizi and Kennedy Yanko. Her articles and essays have been published, amongst others, in Aesthetica, ArtDistricts, Art Pulse, Rooms-Art Uncovered and Whitewall Magazine, as well as numerous exhibition catalogues and books for Kunsthalle Krems, Austria; Galerie der Kuenstler, Munich, Germany; and Pan-American Art Projects in Miami, USA to name a few. Dempster also works as a curator – often in collaborative practice with artists – to curate talk series, exhibitions, and installations. Most recent curatorial projects include “Sound, Stories” at Locust Projects (Helina Metaferia, Ambrose Murray, Ania Freer) and “Priscilla Aleman: The Ocean Within,” “Cornelius Tulloch: Rhythmic Landscape; Patterns of Identity” and “Malaika Temba: Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues” at Soho Beach House in Miami.

10 Dec, 1:30–2:15pm

The Untitled Art Podcast Lounge