Pompano Beach Arts Presents New Exhibition, BOIL NOTICE

Pompano Beach Arts will present the new exhibition Boil Notice by Dana Kleinman in collaboration with her sister Ruth Avra, artistically known as KX2. Informed by the environmental conditions of Southern Florida, this installation focuses on the rising water levels due to climate change, a lack of access to potable water, and industrial waste pollution. This installation artistically reflects data related to boil water notices issued across Broward County during 2022. The artwork integrates repurposed fixtures to draw the viewer's attention to residential and industrial pollution, and its impact on our natural water ecology. The opening reception and artist talk takes place on April 14, 2023, at 6 p.m. and the exhibition runs through July 3, 2023 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. For more information, www.pompanobeacharts.org

"This fascinating and thought-provoking exhibition integrates repurposed fixtures to draw the viewer's attention to residential and industrial pollution, and its impact on our natural water ecology," said Ty Tabing, Cultural Affairs Director. "The artwork shines a light on an important, and troubling, facet of life in today's South Florida."

In an effort to visually document this situation, Avra and Kleinman created a wall installation of 365 recycled water spigots and taps sourced from local salvage sites and plumbers, hung in a grid arrangement. Each spigot exudes either a clear eco-resin as a representation of safe drinking water or is clogged with concrete and debris collected from neighborhood construction sites. Highly evocative, the exhibition reveals the fragile vulnerability of public infrastructure which is often taken for granted.

Enhancing the visual experience of this exhibition will be a soundscape created by Dave Rosenthal, who has been capturing sounds from flooding, storm drains, and water systems from around the county.

The exhibition also contains a large installation from the artists ongoing Obstruction series, which aims to raise an awareness of the dependence on the vast and hidden networks of utility pipes of our modern world. While this infrastructure is necessary for modern societies, it also comes at a significant environmental cost that can cause conflicts between neighborhoods via natural disasters and human pollution. Drainage pipes clogged with plastic bags, industrial sludge and human debris are common sites within Broward County. Environmental agencies struggle to maintain these networks and those responsible are left unaccountable.