Daniel Arsham's uchronic aesthetics revolve around his concept of fictional archaeology. Working in sculpture, architecture, drawing and film, he creates and crystallises ambiguous in-between spaces or situations, and further stages what he refers to as future relics of the present. They are eroded casts of modern artifacts and contemporary human figures, which he expertly makes out of some geological material such as sand, selenite or volcanic ash for them to appear as if they had just been unearthed after being buried for ages. Always iconic, most of the objects that he turns into stone refer to the late 20th century or millennial era, when technological obsolescence unprecedentedly accelerated along with the digital dematerialisation of our world. While the present, the future and the past poetically collide in his haunted yet playful visions between romanticism and pop art, Daniel Arsham also experiments with the timelessness of certain symbols and gestures across cultures.
Text courtesy Perrotin.
Ocula Conversation Daniel Arsham By Diana d'Arenberg, Hong Kong Daniel Arsham arrives in Hong Kong from New York in time to enjoy the last four hours of his birthday, although with his new show, Fictional Archeology, about to open at Galerie Perrotin in Hong Kong, there is little time for celebration. In fact, with exhibitions on three different continents in the next month, he may have to put the...
Related Press Snark Park Is the Latest Selfie-Taking Destination in Hudson Yards 24 April 2019, Hyperallergic On a lazy Sunday earlier this month, I visited a selfie space. Snark Park, a project of Daniel Arsham, Alex Mustonen, and Ben Porto's design group, Snarkitecture, opened last month inside the new mall at Hudson Yards. Featuring a temporary installation of Instagram-friendly backdrops, New York City's latest tourist destination designed for taking...
Related Press Daniel Arsham - The Time Traveler 21 January 2017, MAEKAN Daniel Arsham is an artist unencumbered by the conventions of a particular place or period. Indeed, the very nature of his work and his audience's connection to it suggest that the lines of what constitute 'proper' art and even time itself seem to bend around him. From the comfort of his New York-based studio, he shares about his extensive use of...
Related Press 'Lexus Art Series' kicks off in Miami with Daniel Arsham on VR 2 December 2016, Whitewall Magazine This first discussion, Virtual Reality: How Will It Influence Art & Design? revolved around the content, narratives, and technology that makes up virtual and augmented reality, and offered insight into our technologically-manipulated surroundings through Arsham’s creative lens. 'My interest has been in where this...
Related Press Jenny Holzer & Mapplethorpe works go on show in a hospital 17 October 2016, Dazed Digital An immersive, site-specific exhibition titled Human Condition is currently taking up residency at a former hospital in West Adams, Los Angeles – once known as Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center. Opening in 1971, it was the first Black-owned hospital in the California city, running until the neighbourhood’s decline and revelations...
Related Video & Audio Daniel Arsham '3018', Perrotin New York 7 December 2018, Perrotin Video of the exhibition 3018 by Daniel Arsham at Perrotin New York September 8–October 21, 2018. Video: Guillaume Ziccarelli © 2018
Related Video & Audio Daniel Arsham 'The Angle of Repose', Perrotin Paris 12 January 2018, Perrotin Interview of Daniel Arsham on the occasion of his exhibition The Angle of Repose at Perrotin Paris, October–December 2017
Related Video & Audio Talk Daniel Arsham & Paul Ardenne 14 October 2017, Perrotin Conversation between Daniel Arsham & Paul Ardenne. On the occasion of the exhibition The angle of Repose Saturday October 14, 2017
Related Video & Audio Lexus Art & Innovation Series Video: Daniel Arsham on Virtual Reality 4 January 2017, Whitewall During the week of Art Basel in Miami Beach earlier this month, Whitewall partnered with Lexus to host two days of talks at the Faena Hotel. The conversations, titled Lexus Art Series: Art & Innovation Talks by Whitewall, focused on a range of topics concerning the art world, from virtual reality to online auctions, and from new kinds of art...
