Miami Art Week 2019 Meet the Artist: Experience the Art Series
The Artist: Ralph Ziman
The Idea: Humanitarian Art That Reconciles South’s Africa’s Apartheid Past
The Art: The Casspir Project
The Design Tourist, aka Karen LeBlanc, standing in front of an 11-ton Casspir military vehicle covered in glass beads by South African artisans at PULSE Art Fair during Miami Art Week.
An overarching theme to the creative works that intrigued me during Miami Art Week was about a hyperawareness of social issues. Artwork with a confessional quality that offered insight into the artist’s personal politics resonated deeply.
At the entrance to PULSE Art Fair, I encountered an armored all-terrain vehicle covered in colorful beads by South African artist Ralph Ziman. It was both disturbing and oddly beautiful—an emotionally jarring juxtaposition. The beaded tank is called a Casspir, used by the South African Police and Defense Force against civilians during apartheid. Ziman named it SPOEK 1 and it weighs 11-tons and is covered in 70 million glass beads, arrayed in panels of traditional patterns by African artisans from Zimbabwe and the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, including women of the Ndebele tribe, known for their craftsmanship.
SPOEK 1 and The Casspir Project was presented by The Rendon Gallery at Miami Art Week, December 5-8, 2019 as part of the special projects section at PULSE Art Fair.
SPOEK 1 anchors Ziman’s traveling series, The Casspir Project, presented by The Rendon Gallery. Ralph Ziman’s multidisciplinary fine art exhibition encompasses installations, photography, oral history, and documentary film, examining the human rights issues of apartheid, the over-militarization of police, and state violence.
His art is about making amends with South Africa’s apartheid history by reframing emblems of violence and oppression into art objects. “In Africa, there’s a belief that when you touch something, you take away its power. By covering the Casspir with beads, it became non-threatening. People could come up, put their hands on the tank and by doing so, take away its power to oppress,” Ziman explains.
The Casspir has been transformed into a work of art for SPOEK 1, its surfaces covered in 70 million, elaborate and brightly-colored glass beads, arrayed in panels of traditional patterns.
The name “Casspir,” is an anagram combining the name of the designer (the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR) and the end-user (the South African Police, SAP). Ralph, working with African artists.
Glass beads cover AK-47s as part of The Casspir Project by South African Artist Ralph Ziman. His works were on view at PULSE Art Fair during Miami Art Week.
Ziman also embellishes weapons with colorful glass beads as social and geopolitical commentary. “We originally started with the AK 47 as a response to the arms trade coming into Africa. I was constantly seeing photographs in the press of Somali rebels and pirates. There were AK 47’s everywhere. I thought that it would be great to do this reversal of the arms trade where we make non-lethal, beautiful weapons in South Africa and ship them to the rest of the world. The root of the project is its humanitarian mission to support the families of South African artisans. With every work that sold, the proceeds would amount to a month of living expenses for an entire family,” Ziman says.
The Casspir Project by South African Artist Ralph Ziman also comprises installation, photography and film.
He employs 10 artisans full time working out of his studio in Johannesburg. He discovered these artists selling beads and wire sculptures to tourists on the streets of the city. “They were hustling to make a living. We wanted to create an environment where we could pay everybody a living wage and pay for their kids to go to school,” Ziman explains.
The Casspir was built during the apartheid as a vehicle for the South African police force to patrol and control neighborhoods. “When I left South Africa in the early eighties, it was the height of apartheid, policing involved a bunch of Casspirs with white cops sitting on top with automatic weapons. The Casspir was developed by like the white African military, so while it’s South African, it was very much a white invention,” Ziman remembers.
Photography that is part of The Casspir Project by South African Artist Ralph Ziman. This image shows two Casspirs covered in glass beads.
He bought the 1981 police Casspir from a scrap yard and rebuilt it to factory standards. It took more than 100 artisans three years to cover the tank in colorful beads. “This project is about owning up to our history of apartheid and the Casspir and transforming that,” Ziman adds.
Ralph Ziman was selected for the special project section of the 2019 edition of PULSE Art Fair where he will present SPOEK 1, an 11-ton decommissioned, apartheid-era Casspir vehicle that has been restored and reclaimed
The South African government decommissioned Casspirs after the apartheid leaving their hulls in scrap yards as a relic of their tumultuous past. The United States bought several to use during the Iraq war years, rebranded as the MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected). After the war, these Casspirs were given free of charge to local United States police departments under the Pentagon’s 1033 Program.
“I felt an urgency to do this project because I started seeing these Casspir vehicles showing up on the streets of America, in the news, in protests such as Black Lives Matter. I wanted to tell our joint history with the Casspir,” Ziman says.
Ziman says The Casspir Project aims to subvert the narratives of violence and oppression by celebrating South Africa’s creativity and community.
The Casspir Project was presented by The Rendon Gallery at Miami Art Week
Ralph Ziman was born in 1963 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Learn more about Ralph Ziman’s work and highlights from Art Basel Miami Beach, in new episodes of The Design Tourist filmed during Miami Art Week, airing soon.
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The gallery’s mission is to help shape the discussion between art and design and to further increase the presence of cutting-edge design within the larger art world. 
Functional Art Gallery works with artists and designers who push the line between aesthetics and purpose, form and function, perception and intent.
The art installation Roots called attention to “alarming changes in nature and our environment” including disappearing forests and wildlife, polluted air and oceans, rising sea levels are rising, and an increase in extreme weather phenomena. Delta Air Lines and the Sacred Space Miami presented Roots by Atelier Marko Brajovic, curated by Ximena Caminos and produced by Alberto Latorre. The idea behind the art is to stimulate cultural and artistic responses to environmental change. 
The Roots pavilion is a self-supporting aluminum branching system wrapped with fine custom-made ropes and was designed by a parametric software mimicking the natural growth of a mangrove rooting system. In the middle of the pavilion, a large deck is used as a collective space for ceremonies and for three traditional Amazonian hammocks from which visitors can experience the immersive documentary SACRED COCA.
Learn more about the artists and art objects featured at Design/Miami in new episodes of The Design Tourist filmed at Miami Art Week.
The overarching theme at both shows was about creating awareness and connecting with humanity. At Spectrum Miami, I ran into two strange-looking characters clad in rags roaming the show as social sculptures. They were wearing Ghillie Suits, camouflage garb traditionally worn by snipers outdoors to blend in with their surroundings.
“The latest tile trends comprise the most nuanced and interesting design language we have ever had at our disposal. Tiles tell stories through the spaces we create for them. Ceramics this year are daring us to express ourselves and providing all the technical and aesthetic solutions to do so 
Simple and sleek steps aside for the more-is-more design language of Maximalism, expressed in tile with bold colors and contrasting patterns.
Maximalism brings a vibrancy to interior design that in recent years has been zombified with minimalism. Tile designs in clashing prints are expressed as graphic interruptions in contemporary living spaces without overpowering.
Maximalism, on the trend radar since 2018, gains traction as the leading design ethos with decadent textures, colorful tones and pattern clashes.
Self-expression in living spaces becomes playful with asymmetrical, randomized looks in the latest tile styles. Urban inspired designs such as graffiti also lighten up a living space. 
Popular cartoons illustrated on ceramic with Del Conca’s Felix the Cat and pop art inspired graphics take tremendous creative license to experiment with color, size and patterns to create one-of-a-kind surfacing for architects and designers. 
Some of t
One example is Dash by Raw Color with its grid-like pattern, random ever-changing rectangular compositions that combine different shades and different lengths. 
Modern interpretations of Art Deco, the Roaring 20s and organic art nouveau styles are gaining traction in living spaces. Tile designs draw influences from all of the aspects of the era, from fashion to lighting, architecture to jazz and a bohemian spirit in literature, photography, and theatre.
Tile styles reference Cubism, organic floral textiles of the period and geometric 
At the Coverings show, blue made a strong showing in tile designs with blue hues layered on floors and walls.
Expect to see a lot of c
Ceramic Wallpaper
Large porcelain slabs with minimal grout lines create the effect of wallpaper with the technical benefits of ceramic. 
These patterns are digitally printed on large ceramic surfaces that can be used as furnishing elements.
Dramatic Veins
Stone looks are making strong statements with dramatic veining amping up common varieties of stone including carrara, statuario, and travertine. “Popular aggressive stone looks include marble, granites, onyx and quartzite with dramatic veins and patterns,” says Fasan.
Dark marble looks with large swaths dominate this stone-inspired tile category according to Tile Council of North America. Also expect to see more tone on tone larger veins and intense contrast veining.
I saved the best for last. The following tile styles are my favorite picks at Coverings 2019. They rank at the top of my design radar for their fresh designs, fascinating textures and innovative technologies. My best in show pick is The Foundry Collection because it embodies all of the latest trends in tile: imperfectly perfect styling with its timeworn, weathered surfaces, strong use of blue, and mix of textured tile in random patterns. It really encompasses all that is happening at the forefront of design at the moment.
Also, I spotted several collections worth of show stopper status including this worn blue jean inspired tile with a texture that mimics the feel of denim.
My final show stopper pick is this modern interpretation of Terrazzo with geometric accents and large flecks. 
At the 
The rise of the Foodie culture fused with authentic travel is stimulating appetites for regional cuisine. Today’s consumer wants food to deliver a cultural experience. Food is a form of self-expression and the source of social media bragging rights. Meals that are Instagrammable and socially shareable and convey a backstory are capturing the palettes and imaginations of many who seek adventure in their travel and food.
Brooklyn has a thriving and prolific community of artists, artisans, craftspeople, and designers that puts it on par with other hubs of craftsmanship around the world. Products bearing the Brooklyn-Made certification are coveted by collectors and design aesthetes interested in authenticity and the backstory of pieces they acquire. Once a year, the borough showcases its maker community in an event known as Brooklyn Designs, now in its 15th year presented by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and co-produced with Novità Communications.
