On Sept 14, the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami held an open house for the five artists selected to be part of Trading Spaces 2, MOCA’s innovative two-month residency program.Through the program, five South Florida artists, Dona Altemus, Onajide Shabaka, Magnus Sigurdarson, Rick Ulysse and Antonia Wright, will give up his/her studio in exchange for an exhibition space at MOCA from Sept 13-Nov 11. On the first night of the project, the artists moved in with beds, couches and rotating camels, hoping to elicit community feedback throughout the process and create work that raises their awareness – WPBT captured the action.

Trading Places 2 is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami under the direction of MOCA Executive Director and Chief Curator Bonnie Clearwater. The artists picked for this latest incarnation come from a wide variety of disciplines including performance art, photography and even silhouette caricatures, but most have come with no real preconceived notion of what they will create in the two months. It is the excitement of discovery that attracted most to be part of the exhibition.

Sigurdarson reports the real work will be showing up on time: “You let the project itself take its course and take you where it wants it to take you.” The centerpiece of his space is a giant rotating camel, a token he takes with him wherever he goes. For Antonia Wright, who moved in with furniture, it is the potential to share ideas with her fellow “roommates.”

Trading Places 2 is made possible by MOCA’s Knight Exhibition Endowment.

Artists Antonia Wright (left) and Magnus Sigurdarson move into MOCA as part of Trading Places 2