Bridge Deconstruction Site

November 2, 2023–February 4, 2024
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

The Department of Reflection, a collaborative creative organization led by Miami-based artist misael soto, used The Wolfsonian–FIU's Bridge Tender House as the foundation for a special public installation involving community and student-submitted work inspired by bridges. Originally located at Northwest 27th Avenue on the Miami River—and now part of the museum's collection—the streetside Art Deco architectural structure played muse to the Department of Reflection and their phased, multi-person creative investigation into infrastructure, bridges, and related political, social, and ethnographic phenomena. Titled Bridge Deconstruction, the project began in January with the Special Commission on Bridges that took place within Florida International University's Department of History and continued with a Public Input phase, during which several open calls were put out to various local communities. The installation and series of programming comprised the public culmination of the year-long project.

Project associates included: Kayla Delacerda, Chris Dougnac, Loni Johnson, Jessica Mueller, Victoria Ravelo, Sterling Rook, Nicole Salcedo, Ayesha Singh, Samuel Tommie, Sue Welch, Agustina Woodgate, Armando Zamora, Donzii, The Greater Miami Bureau of Time Tourism, Bridge Deconstruction Special Historical Officers, and FIU CARTA students.

Presented in connection with The Big World: Alternative Landscapes in the Modern Era and The Breath Eaters, Bridge Deconstruction Site was organized by the Department of Reflection, The Wolfsonian–FIU, and The Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab and sponsored by FIU's Extreme Events Institute and their Commons for Justice: Race, Risk, and Resilience project funded by the Mellon Foundation. Additional support from a WaveMaker grant from Locust Projects; Bas Fisher Invitational; and from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners.