▼ Culture Waste Not Ahol Sniffs Glue’s latest installation puts trash on display at the Wolfsonian. BY CAROLINA DEL BUSTO D avid Anasagasti prepares his backpack for an evening bike ride in downtown Miami. He stows the essentials: water, a protein bar, and spray paint cans. The artist, who goes by the moniker Ahol Sniffs Glue, has turned the ordinary pastime of cycling into a way to not only get fit but make art. As he bikes along the city streets, if he finds a piece of trash on the road or tucked under a tree, he’ll stop, dust off the newfound treasure, and paint over it. He then leaves the new work of art for someone to find and claim. “To get more excited about being out on the bike, I started to bring a can of spray paint with me,” the Cuban-American artist says. “As I went around, I would paint on stuff and eventually I started sharing on social media and people started to collect these pieces.” Anasagasti has been doing this for nearly two years. He first started by sharing photos of the trash-turned-treasure on his Instagram. As it increased in popularity, he started a Dis- cord channel that he titled “Biscayne World.” He’s gamified the process to further engage with the community. While he’s out on his rides, he’ll share an image of a freshly painted piece. Superfans will then need to discern the location and see who can get there first to claim their prize. To sweeten the deal, Anasa- gasti also mints NFTs of some of the works. A collection of stones sit broken near the base of an old tree. Anasagasti spots the pile of rubble and his eyes widen. He jumps off his bike and collects a few of the rocks to form a Photo by Carolina del Busto sort of small wall. Using his spray can, he paints his signature droopy eye over the rocks. The smell of fresh paint lingers in the air. He takes a step back to admire his work “WE’RE LOOKING HERE AT THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF WHAT DAVID IS DOING WITH TRASH.” before he snaps, saves, and uploads the image to the Landfill Gallery chat on Discord. Further up the road, along the bike path, a discarded oil can is taking up space be- hind a bush. The art- ist does his thing and within minutes some- one approaches and snags the freshly painted oil can. The collector sees Anasa- gasti and gives the artist a fist bump as a “thank you” before riding off on his own bike. “The idea is that by my efforts and every- thing that I’m doing, it’s for the community, it’s for the fanbase and to make them feel spe- cial because they should feel special,” Anasa- gasti says. Anasagasti’s antics will soon be on display at the Wolfsonian-FIU as part of an installa- tion of a selection of his found pieces titled “Geographies of Trash.” The unique part of the exhibit is that all the works on display will be on loan from the art collectors themselves. “‘Geographies of Trash’ has been a com- munity effort,” he explains. “These people that are normally not the typical collector base in the art world, yet they’re Miami peo- ple that are here seeing everything, we’re in- cluding them in this process.” The museum curatorial staff has been reaching out to members of the Discord channel to loan some of their pieces to the museum for the show. The installation is presented in part with the Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab,and the FIU Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator, the latter of which Anasagasti is an entrepre- neurial resident. “The idea was to bring in someone like Da- vid [Anasagasti] to show the kids how people who are real practitioners do what they do,” says Jacek Kolasinski, executive director of Ahol Sniffs Glue creates a quick art piece from a pile of rocks. the Ratcliffe Arts + Design Incubator. “How they come up with ideas and how it goes from ideation to the market. He’s bringing a lot of value to the incubator.” Part of the idea behind the program is to also leverage other university resources, such as the Wolfsonian. The focal point of the up- coming installation, Kolansinski explains, is the narrative behind the pieces. The idea be- hind the project is that the people who collect Anasagast’s work will have a distinctive Mi- ami story. “We’re looking here at the economic value of what David is doing with trash, he’s upcy- cling trash in the city,” Kolansinski adds. “He’s turning ordinary trash into art.” “Geographies of Trash.” On view through Tuesday, May 31, at the Wolfsonian-FIU, 1001 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-531-1001; wolfsonian.org. Admission is free. [email protected] 11 1 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | miaminewtimes.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | MIAMI NEW TIMES NEW TIMES MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 MAY 19-25, 2022
