Miami Beach Plans Monumental Traffic Jam — In Sand

MIAMI BEACH, FL — In a city where traffic congestion is a daily fact of life, officials plan to transform a stretch of the world famous beachfront into a monumental traffic jam — made entirely out of sand.

Argentinian Artist Leandro Erlich will unveil his "Order of Importance" on the oceanfront at tourist-favorite Lincoln Road. The unique installation will be on display from Dec. 1–15 to coincide with Miami Art Week 2019.

"Order of Importance" will be a temporary installation located directly on the oceanfront in South Beach at Lincoln Road, and will be comprised of 66 life-size sand replicas of cars and trucks," according to the city's Melissa Berthier.

The sand replicas of vehicles frozen in time will symbolize a harsh and rigid modernity that is at odds with the natural and porous materials from which cars and trucks are made.

Throughout his career, Erlich has combined elements of sculpture, architecture and theater to create surreal environments that are meant to disrupt the audience’s natural view of the world.

"'Order of Importance' is the city’s first temporary public art commission and adds to Miami Beach’s legacy as a vanguard for public art," added Berthier.

The city recently completed a $7 million public art project at the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center, which is believed to be the largest single commission by a municipal percent-for-art program in the United States.

The convention center project includes works by Franz Ackermann, Elmgreen & Dragset, Ellen Harvey, Joseph Kosuth, Joep van Lieshout and Sarah Morris.

Erlich became the first non-Chinese artist to occupy the entire exhibition space at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing earlier this year with his show "The Confines of The Great Void." His work called "Swimming Pool" is now part of the permanent collection at the 21st Century Museum of Art of Kanazawa in Japan.

The artist lives and works in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. His work has been shown internationally in the permanent collections of major museums and private collectors. His most recent exhibitions at the MORI Art Museum in Tokyo and the HOW Art Museum in Shanghai drew hundreds of thousands of visitors.