THE ISSUE 2
SPRING EDITION
PA P E R Daniel Arsham Explains His Artistic Process
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Bridging the Fashion Footwear Gap with Filling Pieces
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INSA on the State of Street Art
DANIEL ARSHAM’S MULTIPLE MEDIUMS OF ART As a man of a humble, calm and quiet disposition, Miami-born, New York-based artist Daniel Arsham perfectly fits the mold of an artist who’s work does most of the talking. Under a predominantly black and white color palette, Daniel’s body of work spans the dimensional sphere through a diverse range of mediums that include painting, sculpting, stage design and architecture – each lending themselves collectively to his ever growing universe of warped objects and environments. While setting up his exhibition at Hong Kong’s
Galerie Perrotin, we ask Daniel about the genesis of his artwork, the methods of his practices, and his artistic aspirations. Kindly introduce yourself and can you tell our readers what you do as an artist? My name is Daniel Arsham and my practice covers painting, sculpting and work that approaches an architectural scale. More recently, I’ve also gone into mediums of movement that includes both theatre and film.
How would you describe your artwork and its focus? Is there a general ethos or message that you’re trying to convey throughout the body of your work? The short answer to this question is, no. I try not to be prescriptive with what I convey and in most cases there is no message. My work is more of an invitation for viewers to enter an alternate place. For example, a place where architecture is malleable and can change forms. At times this experience can be a little disturbing for
the audience, especially as my work is “quiet.” When someone walks into a room they may not notice the piece, however once they do, it can be unnerving or even uncanny. This is because I am taking something that people know or have an expectation for and I manipulate it. For instance, when you alter architecture or cameras and phones, the material alterations cause a dislocation in time. What I mean is, a subtle difference can elicit the viewer to pause. continued on page 6