BAFTFT 11

Written by Jessica George

Let’s face it, it’s been a long time since I have written another Back Again for the First Time.

At first, this column was about my re-emergence into American life. It was a way for me to deal with the heartache of missing New Zealand and to cope with the adjustment of feeling like a foreigner in my home country. I have been back in America for over a year now that and with time, I have coped.

But that’s where the problem started for my column. I still miss New Zealand, but I’m not feeling like the foreigner I once was. I have an apartment, a boyfriend, friends, a couple of jobs and a regular bar to go to. I’ve come a long way from living in my sister’s house in small-town America, hula hooping alone in the backyard and crying over pictures of my Kiwi friends (although I still miss you all heaps!).

So now what am I meant to write about? Without the heartache, I wasn’t sure.

It’s taken me months, but I have stepped back and loosened the constraints of this column. My ties to New Zealand may have weakened a little but I still remember what it’s like to be there, I still value my time there and I am hoping that I am still able to have a voice there, even if it is yelling all the way from American soil.

So, if you’ll have me, I’d like to keep writing for Morph, documenting the things that are important to me here: art, music, travel, good food, good people and those funny, quirky moments and places in life that make it feel important. Without further ado, here’s a little story about my trip to Miami, Florida.

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I’ll take any excuse to go on a road trip and my boyfriend’s birthday was even better than an excuse, it was a reason. Being a big fan of Disney World, he wanted to celebrate in the warm embrace of Orlando, FL. I jumped at the idea and with only a couple of weeks planning, we were off to our southern destination. Before high-fiving with Mickey, we decided to head down to South Florida, the swampland of America (I grew up in South Florida, so it is okay for me to call it that. Plus, a good part of it is actually swamp land).

Both being street art fans (and Ryan a street-artist himself), we were determined to find the remainders of Art Basel 2010 (say it a few times aloud... I’m pretty sure it is not pronounced like the herb, but pronounced like “BAH-ZEL”) in Miami. Once a year, the gritty warehouse district usually peppered with crack heads becomes a booming art paradise with street, graffiti, pop-pluralism and low-brow artists having their way with hundreds of walls. According to the Art Basel website it is the most important art show in the USA. I suppose this depends on who you ask, but if it were up to me and Ryan, we’d probably agree.

Image:  OBEY

We set out to find a giant OBEY stencil (you know, the Obama guy) first. I stuck to one side of the street and Ryan to the other as we scoured the area. We’d followed the GPS to this spot but couldn’t find it no matter how hard we tried. How could it be that hard to find amongst the barren concrete sides of buildings? Yelling across the street in victory, Ryan motioned upwards and there it was in all its glory. In our search we’d failed to look above street level. How we had missed a nearly three-storey stencil for at least 15 minutes still puzzles me.

Image:  London Police

This was just the tip of the iceberg. Back in the car we drove up the street, both of us yelling “Pull over!” at least eight or so times each as we spotted artworks. Ryan hopped out of the car and took photos while I waited and watched for any angry-looking drug addicts.  Within just a few blocks, we saw artwork by some of our favorite artists: Alex One, Dolla, Barry McGee and London Police to name just a few. We were kids in Candyland.

South Beach can be a gamble with the attitudes of the rich and wannabe-famous thickening the humid air. But we headed there anyway to check out the Kidrobot Miami store. If you’re not familiar with Kidrobot, they’re the big guns in the designer toy movement.

Within seconds of being out of the car, a half eaten chicken wing was hurled out of the sky and came within inches of Ryan’s head. We looked up and a seagull screeched by -there really does seem to be something wrong with a bird eating another bird, right?  The perfect introduction to South Beach and really the only experience we needed there.

See ya later, Miami and thanks for the memories!