When music festival attendees had to choose between seeing the headliners or spending time interacting with the festival’s art and artists, the decision was too often simple. At best, the artist’s hard work is quickly recognized to pass the time between shoots. At worst, it’s just a shortcut to move to another stage.
For Los Angeles-based, Miami-raised artist Mockybaby (aka Veronica Jessa), you don’t go through art; art flows through you. This year, you can live in her “Mokiworld,” a collection of installations and artworks, at III Points.
“People can expect a whole new world, installations and a new side of III Points that we haven’t seen before,” Jessa says during a meeting with New times at Floyd, a bar on 11th Street in downtown Miami. She has been involved with the music festival in one capacity or another since its inception in 2013, first as a co-producer and then as a marketing director before becoming a full-time artist under the name Mokibaby.
“I am so excited to present Mokiworld this year. This is the tenth anniversary of III Points, and not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that in the tenth year I would have my own world. I’m just so excited now that Despacio’s entrance is part of Moka’s world – and him being part of my world means everything, because Despacio is my temple.”
Jessa’s first art installation at III Points was in 2014, where she stacked static-filled analog televisions into loose columns.
“When I was hired by a creative agency in 2014, I was told I couldn’t produce because that’s what they did,” she adds. “I asked (III Points co-founder David Sinopoli) what I could do for the festival because I still wanted to help, and he said, ‘Why don’t you make the art you want to see?’ So I made a vintage analogue TV installation for Skate Space. Kaytranada and Cashmere Cat played there.”
The school bus at III Points, which is decorated by Veronica Jessa every year, has become an iconic symbol of the festival.
Ventigota Photos
However, it was only in 2016 that she devoted herself fully to working on art installations.
“This was the year of the Zika virus and the hurricane. It was the worst year ever, and I did six installations that year as a marketing director. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she adds. “After that year, I just wanted to do art, and that’s when I realized I was going to go all in. Once again, it was III Points where I decided to change my direction and it continues to allow me to grow and develop. be bigger and think crazier.”
III Points participants may also have indirectly interacted with Hessa’s work through the festival’s famous school bus and limousine. The limousine, sponsored this year by adult entertainment company Vixen Media Group, serves as a tribute to her father, who worked as a private driver. “I always remember my dad giving me rides in white limousines, and it was just crazy,” she recalls. “It’s such a vivid memory for me and I wanted to evoke the excitement of riding in a beautiful, classic white limousine.”
The bus is also set to return this year with a pop-up installation by Hugo and Bella Poarch, which will feature the brand’s capsule collection created in collaboration with the singer and internet personality.
In addition to the Wynwood Festival, Jessa’s installations have appeared at Coachella and the party series A Club Called Rhonda, and she has designed for clients such as MTV, Maison Margiela and Bad Bunny. Regardless of where the installations appear, Mokibaby’s works require interaction.
“I always design with my inner child in mind. I like to create installations that you can feel and touch, like a school bus and a limousine,” explains Jessa. “These are real vintage cars and it’s like you’re in another world where you can interact with the props.”
At Floyd, Veronica Jessa was tasked with creating an interactive environment for the monthly party series My Friend Misty.
Photo by Jean Alamazar
She ends up at Floyd’s monthly My Friend Misty party, where she is named creative director. Jessa uses each group to create a picture of Misty’s fictional home. “Today is a dinner party. It’s like you just came and missed Misty,” she adds. Dreamy red velvet drapes the room. Small TVs play movies and neon signs depict arrows piercing the heart. Paintings adorn the walls, and the dining table features gold plates, dishes of macrons and chocolate-covered strawberries, and an entire cake with Misty frosting.
“I try to introduce people to Misty through different rooms. We did her bedroom, her kissing booth, her inner circle, and now it’s her dinner party,” she explains of the September installation. “At her dinner party, you get a good sense of who she is, and I like to have a different movie playing at each party to match the theme of each party. I want it to feel like she just left the room. Her essence is still here.” “
With so much going on at III Points this year, chances are you’ll never stumble across Jessa’s work—and she’s okay with that. Her work is not intended to distract attention from what is happening on stage.
“The festival still feels like a bunch of kids putting on a festival. We always approach it with a youthful, fun attitude. I think before we were big players, we were music fans, so we really try to create something that is a love letter to the fans and the artists we book.”
She will also debut a line of smoking accessories called Smokibaby at the 2023 festival.
Back at Floyd, even in a dimly lit room and wearing dark glasses, Jessa makes the final adjustments. If parts are curved, that’s intentional—they can’t be too linear.
“Time is a word and a theme in my life that I’m always thinking about and creating,” she says as music blasts from the speakers onto the dance floor. “Time cannot be stopped, but time was not wasted. Time has gone to a much better place because of our experiences and lives. It seems to go by quickly, but I’m so happy with how the time has flown by. spent, used and lived to the fullest.”