Entering Department of Reflection, a new art installation in Miami Beach, feels a bit like discovering a hidden cave or secret library. Inside the rotunda in Collins Park, noise outside fades away and a sense of calm and quiet pervades the dim circular space. A floor mosaic, whose tiles resemble tiny mirrors, greets guests at a door bathed in purple light, and a collection of potted plants fills an indentation in the wall.
That soothing feeling of escaping from the outside world for a moment was intentional, the installation’s creator, Misael Soto, says. “I tried to give it this look and feel of ‘city government meets the UN meets an art exhibition,’” Soto says, “and tried to think of it as a space that can hopefully seduce you in a way and calm you into some inward and outward reflection.”
