{"id":296046,"date":"2026-06-04T17:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296046\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T17:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:30:13","slug":"artists-turn-margaritaville-inside-out-at-locust-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296046\/","title":{"rendered":"Artists turn Margaritaville inside out at Locust Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, \u201cLost Shaker of Salt\u201d at Locust Projects in Little River appears to be a breezy summer diversion.<\/p>\n

Upon entering the exhibition space, visitors encounter Kelly Breez and Patty Gone\u2019s brightly colored homage to Jimmy Buffett\u2019s Margaritaville empire, anchored by a giant margarita knocked onto its side.<\/p>\n

Oversized flip-flops are tacked on one wall. Humongous cargo shorts dangle upside down and dominate another area. A tiki-inspired sports bar with tropical-print stools and video screens occupies another corner.<\/p>\n

\"Installation Installation view of Kelly Breez and Patty Gone, \u201cLost Shaker of Salt,\u201d 2026.at Locust Projects. (Photo by Pedro Wazzan, courtesy of Locust Projects) <\/p>\n

Two oversized Adirondack chairs face a campy performance-art film that traces a path from Caribbean sugar plantations and rum production to the modern fantasy of escape marketed by Margaritaville.<\/p>\n

But Breez and Gone are selling something entirely different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say the concept of Margaritaville as a whole is that they\u2019re selling you pure escapism,\u201d says Breez, a Miami-based multidisciplinary artist. \u201cJust vibes and happy hour and drinks and everything is fine. But there really is this absolute underlying dark side to Margaritaville, which was really what we wanted to dig a little deeper into.\u201d<\/p>\n

She compares the installation itself to that tension.<\/p>\n

\"Visitors Visitors are invited to walk inside the margarita \u2014 a dense, found\u2011object sculptural environment of memorabilia-style elements assembled from collected materials. (Photo by Pedro Wazzan, courtesy of Locust Projects) <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this giant margarita, let\u2019s go stand inside of it, and some Adirondack chairs, let\u2019s have a sit. And giant shorts,\u201d she says. \u201cBut inside there is this anti-colonialist memorial library.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visitors are invited to walk inside the margarita \u2014 a dense, found\u2011object sculptural environment of memorabilia-style elements.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a huge maximalist,\u201d Breez says, explaining that her usual instinct is to fill a space with objects and materials. For this project, however, she deliberately pulled back, allowing the giant cargo shorts and margarita to become the focus.<\/p>\n

Beneath the humor and nostalgia, the commissioned works are meant to evoke more complicated questions about who gets to be part of this paradise and who gets left out. Margaritaville isn\u2019t just a kitschy theme \u2014 it points out a much larger critique of American culture.<\/p>\n

Gone, a Los Angeles-based trans artist, poet and educator, approached Margaritaville from a different perspective than Breez. While Breez grew up immersed in South Florida boating culture, Gone became interested in what the lifestyle brand reveals about broader ideas of belonging and the balance of power.<\/p>\n

\"Patty Patty Gone and Kelly Breez inside the installation of the giant margarita surrounded by Breez\u2019s found object art. (Photo courtesy of the artists) <\/p>\n

\u201cMargaritaville is kind of like the gateway to thinking about a certain kind of straight white culture in Florida, but then maybe the U.S. more broadly,\u201d Gone says.<\/p>\n

She became particularly interested in the sports bar as a cultural symbol.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about the bar itself as a sports bar, especially as a nexus of that kind of social culture,\u201d Gone says. \u201cA kind of patriarchal escapism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The centerpiece of the site-specific installation \u2014 a monumental pair of cargo shorts measuring 12 feet tall and 17 feet wide \u2014 carries a personal connection for Breez.<\/p>\n

\"Many Many of the sails used to construct the oversized shorts came from the artist\u2019s family sailing trips with her ather, including voyages to Key West. (Photo by Pedro Wazzan, courtesy of Locust Projects) <\/p>\n

A South Florida native, she grew up sailing with her father and listening to Buffett\u2019s music on the water. Many of the sails used to construct the oversized shorts came from those family sailing trips, including voyages to Key West.<\/p>\n

Built entirely from repurposed sailcloth, the sculpture required months of planning, fabrication and hand sewing. Breez worked alongside her father and stepmother, transforming their home into what she describes as \u201can absolute factory\u201d during the construction process.<\/p>\n

The giant shorts also function as the James William Buffett Anticolonialist Memorial Library.<\/p>\n

Visitors can enter through the fly, then sit in the library among books selected by Gone examining tourism, colonization, sugar production and the history of the Caribbean and Latin America.<\/p>\n

\"Visitors Visitors can enter through the fly of the giant cargo shorts, then take in books in the James William Buffett Anticolonialist Memorial Library. (Photo by Pedro Wazzan, courtesy of Locust Projects) <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of really good stuff in here about the beginning of the sugar trade and how that has to do with the beginning of cocktails,\u201d Breez says.<\/p>\n

Those themes reappear in Gone\u2019s multi-channel video installation, which traces the history of the margarita far beyond the frozen cocktails served at chain restaurants and beach bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to think of how we got here?\u201d Gone says. \u201cHow did we get to this sports bar, Margaritaville culture?\u201d<\/p>\n

Researching the origins of mixed drinks led her into histories of colonial trade routes, sugar production and empire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first mixed drink is made in India,\u201d Gone says. \u201cMixed drink culture is so embedded with colonialism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The video follows that history from India to Europe and the Caribbean, where sugar production fueled colonial economies and transformed drinking culture.<\/p>\n

One discovery particularly surprised her.<\/p>\n

\"Film Film still of Xochitl Loco, Abhijeet \u201cMoodzi\u201d Mudgerikarin, and Elaina Moreno in Patty Gone\u2019s \u201cLost Shaker of Salt, 2026.\u201d (Photo courtesy of Patty Gone) <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re drinking so much punch at the Declaration of Independence party,\u201d Gone says. \u201cIt was wild to me to find that. They\u2019re drinking all these mixed drinks made with ingredients connected to slave labor and that\u2019s their official drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually the story arrives at Buffett himself, whose laid-back image became the foundation of a billion-dollar lifestyle brand that includes restaurants, resorts and retirement communities.<\/p>\n

For Gone, that evolution became part of the exhibition\u2019s larger narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Jimmy Buffett comes in, he\u2019s this countercultural figure at first,\u201d she says. \u201cThen where does it start to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither artist is interested in simply mocking Buffett or his fans but examining the culture. The surroundings are familiar, but they are amplified.<\/p>\n

For some visitors, that realization takes time.<\/p>\n

\"Film Film still of Xochitl Loco, Abhijeet \u201cMoodzi\u201d Mudgerikarin, and Elaina Moreno in Patty Gone\u2019s \u201cLost Shaker of Salt, 2026.\u201d (Photo courtesy of Patty Gone) <\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a bit for satire to sink in sometimes,\u201d Gone says. \u201cIt takes you to sit with it for a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 25 miles north of Locust Projects is the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, one of the most visible examples of the lifestyle brand built around Buffett and the promise of tropical escape. Proximity makes the exhibition\u2019s examination of tourism, leisure and paradise feel even more relevant in South Florida.<\/p>\n

At the installation\u2019s opening, Breez recalls that many visitors initially responded to the colorful visuals and tropical atmosphere before discovering the exhibition\u2019s deeper themes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people were ready to just call it cheery and summery,\u201d she says. \u201cBut there are indications of the dark underbelly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Built Built entirely from repurposed sailcloth, the sculpture required months of planning, fabrication and hand sewing. (Photo by Pedro Wazzan, courtesy of Locust Projects) <\/p>\n

There\u2019s the sports bar, the memorabilia, a stacked cube monitor tower showing Buffet\u2019s early videos, and there are the Big Pharma commercials playing on a loop at the sports bar promising the same feel-good lifestyle for the Boomer generation.<\/p>\n

And then slowly the question sinks in \u2014 who is this \u201cgood life\u201d really meant for?<\/p>\n

If you go:<\/p>\n

WHAT: Kelly Breez and Patty Gone: \u201cLost Shaker of Salt\u201d<\/p>\n

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Through Saturday, June 20.<\/p>\n

WHERE: Locust Projects, 297 NE 67th St., Miami<\/p>\n

COST: Free<\/p>\n

INFORMATION: (305) 576-8570 or locustprojects.org.<\/p>\n

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At first glance, \u201cLost Shaker of Salt\u201d at Locust Projects in Little River appears to be a breezy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-296046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}