A monumental, mirrored orb will land on Miami Beach this December. The 28ft-tall, 44ft-wide sculpture, A Lore Supreme, will serve as a public space for gathering and celebration during the 2026 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. In the middle of Miami Art Week, the group Major Lazer will headline an exclusive concert at the venue, sited at Faena Beach.
This is the first major installation in the US for the Abu Dhabi-based artist Christopher Joshua Benton, whose work unites research into dance and public space. He is organising the presentation in collaboration with the non-profit Faena Art, and the piece will be installed on the sand behind Miami Beach’s Faena Hotel. It will be free and open to the public, along with another Faena-commissioned work by Marinella Senatore (both 1 December-6 December).
A Lore Supreme will consist of 7,000 mirrored facets evoking a spinning disco ball emblazoned with a reimagined map of the world. Benton’s “globe” privileges the countries—throughout Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America in particular—that have contributed to Miami’s vibrant culture.
Embedded speakers will play fragments of conversations and music that the artist compiled during his extensive research into Miami’s music scene. Benton has focused on these diasporas’ influences on forms that range from disco and dancehall to dembow, descarga, salsa, house and techno.
Throughout his practice, Benton explores how immigrant populations create forms that preserve elements of their homelands. His ongoing projects include the creation of a Black dance archive with scientists from the Immersion Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the re-imagination of overcrowded, low-income housing in the United Arab Emirates. As part of the 2024 Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, the artist created an enormous public park featuring an astroturf ground designed to look like a massive carpet. As a creative director, Benton illuminated the façade of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
Public programming under the umbrella of “Island Funk House” will variously transform A Lore Supreme into a space for wellness activities and sound documentary. At sunset, the sculpture will become a concert venue for live performances. Participating acts will include Jacob Lusk, Richie Hell, DJ Le Spam, DJ Pressure Point and PaperWate.
“Miami... feels like a dance floor, a shared space where different cultures and communities come together, each bringing their own rhythm while moving alongside one another,” Benton said in a statement. His preparatory research led him into a pirate radio station, a Cuban folklore dance class, and a community choir. He even learned to play güiro, a percussion instrument with pre-Columbian origins and the body of a hollowed out gourd, while eating a Cuban sandwich in Little Havana.
Chase Sapphire Reserve is supporting the programme, and on Wednesday 2 December cardmembers will have access to a sunset cocktail, seated dinner and afterparty at A Lore Supreme featuring Major Lazer.
Senatore is similarly promoting togetherness in her own Faena Art commission, An Expanded Baroque Crown, a light installation at the Faena Cathedral. The Italian artist takes inspiration from celebratory traditions in her home country. Her “crown” of light will host readings, poetry, dance, music and other moments for gathering. The local poetry organisation O, Miami will collaborate on the affiliated programming. The project is in line with Senatore’s large-scale, participatory works, which she has realised at the High Line in New York, Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and other major venues around the world.
“Participation is... a way of thinking,” Senatore said in a statement. “I’m interested in creating spaces where people can gather, take agency and feel the work belongs to them.” She hopes that her new piece will create a social plaza that will be activated by a diverse group of visitors.
Both projects are emblematic of Faena’s larger ethos. “At Faena, we believe in the power of art to transform, bring people together and enrich the life of a city with free and open to the public programming,” Alan Faena said in a statement.
The hotelier and real estate developer established Faena Art in 2011. In recent years, timed to ABMB, he and his team have commissioned public projects including a library on a rotating platform by Es Devlin, a major presentation of items from Marina Abramović’s archive and an enormous labyrinth by Sebastian Errazuriz.
“Each year, the Faena District becomes a canvas for artists to dream and create at an extraordinary scale, bringing art out into the open and into the life of our community,” Faena added. “We open our doors to the world, bringing together artists, ideas and people from across the globe in a celebration of culture.”
