Interview: Dustin Orlando



Dustin Orlando curated and produced You Love to Hate, a national group art exhibition and runway-style fashion show taking place April 12, 2008 at Say It Loud on Mills. I had the chance to talk with him recently.

Ok, an art show AND a fashion show AND live music. How will this play out for the event's patrons?
Doors open at 8pm. Patrons will enter the space and immediately be consumed by art, the atmosphere of the venue and DJs playing music. Because of the scale of most of the work, the viewer should be inspired to interact with the pieces. Throughout the night a series of small fashion shows will occur. The live performances and DJ sets will provide the background music to the night, and play cohesively with the fashion show and its choreography.

You curated the art. Where did you find all these artists?

All the artists in this exhibition are people that I have worked with in the past, or are artists I have represented through my former gallery space in Miami, OBJEX art space.

Is the art for sale?
All of the art is available for purchase and nothing is priced over $500.00.

Is the fashion for sale?
All of the fashions featured in the show are available for purchase through Etoile Boutique, Covert or Beta.

Is there a place online we can see a review of the work?
At the moment there is no online preview of the show, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise and ruin all the hard work that has gone into making this event happen.

The event takes place at Say It Loud, a marketing/ad agency. What's been the experience working art into a space made for marketing/pr/media?
I consider what they do at Say It Loud an art form, its commercial, but it's still art, it's relevant, and it's still a group of individuals communicating through creativity. So the experience has been almost worry and conflict free.

How did you secure this space?
I secured the space by paying a lot money to use it.

How does the art get from all across the country to Orlando? Does the artist mail it? Are all the artists going to be there?
All art from outside the Orlando area is shipped by the artist, not all of the artists will be in attendance. However, there are a few that are flying in specifically for the show. Its practically impossible to get them all here.

You used the phrase "donation" to describe your ticket event price. To what organization does the money go?

The A LA REVENGE art project

What's one upcoming event besides your own that (a) you're excited about and (b) you think Orlandoeans are unaware about?
Pase Rock at Dancers Royale...wake up Orlando!