Text and photos by Clare Gemima
Time Dilation by Daniel Arsham
Perrotin Gallery, 130 Orchard St.
Walking into this show will leave you star-struck by the (literal) crystallization of time and memory through Daniel Arsham’s grandiose and hyper-realistic sculptures.
The array of resin sculptures lining this beautiful gallery expand on the idea of what has been, or is actively sacred, and how the definition has been shaped by cultural, social and digital life. The screen in which we all know far too well has allowed ancient treasures an elongated life-span, a ploy Arsham somewhat inverts with his use of analog and digital in the making of his Pokémon series. Classical statue meets pop-cultural Japanese mythology. Two sources that inhabit an infinite amount of online heritage explode as resurrected time stamps in Time Dilation, a showcasing of neo-sacrality at Perrotin Gallery.
This show is joyously playful and delusionally dream-like. Time Dilation makes you ponder on what cultural signifiers will exist well beyond the 20s, and what of them will be glorified or worshipped. Will Charmanders one day be Gods? Will Ancient Grecian sculpture be deduced to existing only as kitsch online graphics? Is this what we’ve come to rely on when we see art depicted with rock, crystals, ceramics or marble? Time, labor and love regardless of its historic gravitas?
An extremely popular show, I would suggest visiting the gallery early before it becomes over-powered with keen visitors. Time Dilation is extremely Instagrammable, making it a slightly harder show to navigate but it is definitely worth the effort.
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Clare Gemima is a visual artist from New Zealand. New-ish to the East Village, she spends her time as an artist assistant and gallery go-er, hungry to explore what's happening in her local art world. You can find her work here: claregemima.com
1 comment:
Yes!!! But is it art?? 😬
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