Captivating ‘Hourglass’ Installations Engage Visitors in the Sands of Time

2017-04-03

Artist Daniel Arsham’s Hourglass show confronts our understanding of history over a synthesis of audio, sculpture and performance art. The challenging work is currently on display at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, and it involves us in spaces that concurrently reflect the past and present. The fascinating endeavor involves three different installations that are linked through mythicism and vivid colors. The latter is a first for Arsham.

“The cast figure of a woman in the sand is nostalgic of Pompeii,” the museum states, “while a Japanese lamp and scattered objects give the environment a tangible sense of dwelling—as if occupied by a caretaker-hermit.”

Throughout the museum, one site represented a Japanese zen garden with a traditional pagoda and raked sand that’s clad in a dazzling blue shade. The garden is routinely raked every Sunday by a performer, while the decorated tea house is owned by the statue of a woman resting on tatami mats with a variety of everyday items.