daniel arsham connects 10 years of timeless works with some new archaeological riddles

right now at the MOCO museum you’ll find a calcified room, an amethyst cave, and other excavations by daniel arsham. the exhibition, ‘connecting time,’ is on display in amsterdam until september 20, 2019. visitors between now and then are invited to forget what year it is as 11 rooms riddle them along architectural wonderlands. eroded looney tunes, volleyballs and tennis balls will bounce visitors back and forth between imaginary futures, where these ancient objects of the present are waiting to be rediscovered, again, by you.

the amethyst ball cavern | all images courtesy of MOCO museum and daniel arsham

the catacombs arsham is standing in is made from hundreds of tennis and volleyballs, eroded for effect. this is his ‘amethyst ball cavern,’ which saw NYC some while ago. inside MOCO, the piece continues to represent the stagnant passing of time — encouraging visitors to stare existentially into a mirror and apologize to themselves for not living more in the present.

the amethyst ball cavern

the ‘calcified room,’ appearing farther down the rabbit hole of this story, has never been shown before. everything’s fossilized for one reason or another. frames and couches and lamps are still identifiable, but all two dimensional content was lost in this fictional catastrophe. the globe, the paintings, the clock on the wall — anything that could give more context has been covered by whatever pompeii-ish scenario was implied to have happened here. like all of these rooms, much relies on the imagination. through arsham’s eyes, what’s underneath is more intriguing than the surface. he’s connected his 10 years of work in his ongoing efforts to connect time itself.
daniel arsham – corner knot

corner knot

hidden figure

eroded patch

eroded patch

eroded patch

eroded pluto dog

miami heat jacket

 
seated female figure

calcified room

daniel arsham – falling clock

project info:

collaborators: MOCO museum, daniel arsham

partners: galerie perrotin, galerie ron mandos.