Kurt Cobain Tribute At Art Basel Miami, a Surreal Celebration, Thurston Moore Performs

Legendary "Nirvana" front man was paid a tribute by a surreal multimedia show "KURT" held at the  Art Basel Miami Beach, Dec. 6.

The event was a three segment show titled "KURT" that had a five minute short film in its first segment by director, Adarsha Benjamin.

"It's about the unspoken. It's about feeling." she said in her brief introduction.

"Filtered shots of Aberdeen, Washington gave way eventually to fuzzy images of stylized versions of 'Kurt,' an actor donning facsimiles of famous Cobain outfits. Over this, a narrator intoned lines from 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' as though it were a dramatic monologue, and later, a chorus swelled over the soundtrack. This was a film about mood and sentiment rather than narrative, and one not so wrapped up in historical baggage...," SPIN reported.

The next segment was a modern dance piece from choreographer Ryan Heffington with his interpretation of popular song "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

The third was a gig by Thurston Moore, guitarist of "Sonic Youth." Moore who lived in the area regaled the audience with his stories from younger days and recited a poem "Olympia", an elegy written after Cobain's death. He later performed the title track of his '95 solo album "Psychic Hearts." He was accompanied by Steve Bristol on drums.

"Sonic Youth" had a major influence on Nirvana and Cobain. Both were friends in the 90s. Moore's album "Psychic Hearts" has a song track of the same name that "was inspired by interactions I had with the community around him and his scene in the Pacific Northwest, and friends I had within that...The Psychic Hearts album was thematic around it," said Moore.

After another 20 minutes of noise/free jazz improvisational session with a drummer and reading of few poems, the show ended with the words, "Be a warrior . . . love life," Rolling Stone reported.