Tension as concept, possesses dual meanings. Within the realms of the physical world, it connotes the opposing forces that act upon, and pull at, fixed points. As a psychological state, it conveys an instance, prolonged or brief, of heightened sensation. For his latest installation, “Tension: Art Basel,” artist Joseph La Piana continues his investigation into the dialectics of tension, exploring and interrogating the forms with which it plays out in our collective embodied experiences.

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Comprised of transparent pvc, wrapped around and stretched between volleyball structures located at Ocean Drive & 7th Street in South Beach Miami, “Tension: Art Basel” continues La Piana’s installatory series of tension-based sculptures,  “Tension: Red Hook”(2015), “Tension Between” (2018), and “Tension Sculpture Installation: Park Ave,” (2019). For La Piana, the appropriation of the volley ball court serves “to take the existing identity of the environment and subvert its intended function.”