LizN'Bow Brings a Queer, Colorful VR Rollercoaster to Locust Projects

From a cabin in the woods of New Hampshire, artists Liz Ferrer and Bow Ty are putting the finishing touches to the immersive experience they are bringing to Locust Projects' gallery space in Little Haiti. Unlike the iguanas and wild parrots from their usual Miami environs, their New England studio space, part of a MacDowell residency, surrounds them with wild turkey and deer.

It's just one of several notable residencies the pair, collectively known as LizN'Bow, landed this year, allowing them to expand access to their full technicolor creative universe, "Niñalanida." The duo's work, akin to Lisa Frank on acid with the attitude of a sassy, hilarious Miami mami, is supported under Knight Digital Commissions and has been featured at the Insititute of Contemporary Art, Miami; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Bass. Ferrer and Ty are also planning a web series and traveling exhibition that will launch in a Hialeah banquet hall late next year, which was funded by prestigious Creative Capital and New England Foundation for the Arts grants.

But before that, LizN'Bow is headed to Locust Projects, where "Niñalanida Skycoaster" will transport visitors to "a queer-futurist, post-apocalyptic version of Miami" via virtual-reality rollercoaster starting on Saturday, September 7.

Besides being a performance artist, Ty has a coding background, so when they created a VR game for Ferrer's last birthday, Ferrer decided it needed to be incorporated into their next project. "Liz always wanted a rollercoaster that takes place in this world," Ty says.

"I really like rides, I like fun, and I like sneaking these queer things, queer-coded things, Miami things, feminist things, we sneak them into our work in obvious and not obvious ways," Ferrer says. She wanted to create a theme park based on the world they've built, and because they can't afford to make an actual one, the virtual ride fills that function.

"It's not like we're fictionalizing our reality; we're bringing our fictional reality into the world more," Ty explains. Ferrer adds, "Everything we do is real, and there's some fantasy in it."

Last year, the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami commissioned LizN'Bow to make a giant inflatable cow unicorn on a jet ski, "El Mundo es Mágico," (AKA La Vaca) based on a 3D model. A friend noted that it was the antithesis of the Crypto Bull, a hyper-masculine statue in Brickell. Like all of their work, it was an interactive venture, letting people play and get involved. As their reggaeton band, Niña, they perform alongside friends, collaborators, and audience members. (Expect a performance by Niña during Saturday's opening at Locust Projects.)

LizN'Bow doesn't only bring people to "Niñalandia," they also incorporate a bit of their own reality in their work, partly out of necessity. For this exhibition, they're custom wrapping their own 2006 Buick Rendezvous with, Ferrer says, "insane visual collages" to function as a rollercoaster cart. Visitors can expect to see other elements from past LizN'Bow shows, like the aforementioned La Vaca. "A lot of these projects will start out as jokes we have with each other," Ty says, "to the point where we're actually doing it, so that's part of the process, too."

The two have been in that process together for nearly a decade. They met at a party in Chicago where Ty was working as a "human lamp," where, because they were taking their role seriously, they could not speak to Ferrer. She asked for Ty's info, and the two hung out the following day, creating a spreadsheet of projects they wanted to collaborate on. "Nine years later, we have completed almost every idea on that sheet, and here we are," Ferrer adds.

And they couldn't have checked off the list without outside help. Locust Projects, for instance, gave the pair a lot of leeway and support in allowing them to produce "Niñalanida Skycoaster." "There are few institutions that let artists take risks and experiment the way that Locust Projects is letting us do," Ferrer explains. "They've given us a lot of creative freedom to explore and actualize our vision," adds Bow.

That vision will envelop adventurous art lovers ready to ride the rollercoaster into LizN'Bow's magical dreamscape.

LizN'Bow's "Niñalanida Skycoaster." 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, September 7, through Saturday, November 2, at Locust Projects, 297 NE 67th St., Miami; 305-576-8570; locustprojects.org. Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.