Meeting Bowls in Miami

Spanish artist collective mmmm… presents the Meeting Bowls, social places for getting to know people and fostering dialog in small groups.

The Cultural Center of Spain in Miami (CCEMiami) in collaboration with Miami Design District presents the Meeting Bowls, an innovative public art installation created by the group mmmm… in the Miami Design District, at Paseo Ponti between 40th and 41st Street.

On a typical linear park bench, you could sit beside someone for hours without saying a word. However, the semi-spherical Meeting Bowls, which each stand 5 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter, contain a continuous seating ring inside that encourages dialogue and interaction. The Meeting Bowls gently rock as people enter and exit: a relaxing motion much like a swing.

Designed to help us reimaging how we gather and interact in public places, the Meeting Bowls made their U.S. premiere at New York City’s Time’s Square in 2011 in a two-month long installation. This year they came back to the U.S. with a public installation in Arlington, Virginia, and now they will be moved to Miami Design District during the prestigious international Art Basel in Miami Beach show in Florida.

About mmmm…

mmmm… is a collaboration by Emilio Alarcón, Alberto Alarcón, Ciro Márquez and Eva Salmerón, who have been creating projects for public space since 1998. Based in Madrid, Spain, recent projects include: a life-size car built of brick in a public parking space; organizing 100 couples kissing simultaneously in the city center; and music performed by an orchestra in scattered locations so that the music would be experienced differently by pedestrians depending on which instrument they encounter and when.

In 2014, mmmm… created a permanent public art project in Baltimore consisting of three large sculptures that form the letters BUS. The size, shape, and function of BUS, make this unique bus stop a reference sculpture for the city of Baltimore where BUS has become an iconic urban meeting point.

Eva Salmerón, co-founder of the Spanish group mmmm…. and one of the artists behind the project Meeting Bowls, will take part in an Artist Talk on December 5 at 7 pm at CCEMiami. Free.