For Turning Wrenches, Arsham has produced intensely detailed 1:3 scale replicas of cars and other automotive artifacts as a nod to the Detroit automotive industry and global car culture. Arsham’s fascination with cars began as a youth and his admiration for Porsches from an early age ultimately led to him purchasing and restoring a 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo in adulthood.
A young lad who’s into cars. Wow. Original. He chose Porsche—so cliché—as a nod to Detroit where Porsche isn’t made? There’s enough Detroit Muscle to choose from if he was truly into cars and knew Detroit. At least give me a ’64 Pontiac GTO widely credited as the first true American made muscle car, which, coincidently, was spearheaded by a guy named John DeLorean.
The significance of the other car sculptures produced for the exhibition create a bridge to the film industry, where the choice of a character’s vehicle is often an extension of the driver’s personality. The miniature Mustang in the exhibition is a scale replica of the 1968 Ford Mustang GT that Steve McQueen drove in the famous car chase scene of the movie Bullitt, and the Ferrari references the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Famed for its iconic role in film, another notable car presented in bronze is the DMC Delorean that was transformed into a time machine in the 1985 sci-fi film, Back to the Future.
Steve McQueen’s Mustang in Bullitt is one of the most famous rides on film with the embodiment of cool in the driver’s seat. Everyone knows Michael J. Fox’s line: “Are you telling me that you built a time machine . . . out of a DeLorean?” Sure, why not. These cars are fun and certainly trigger dreams if not memories. As standing sculpture, their shapes are instantly recognizable. White creates a sleekness while the missing chunks make them more than merely a scale replica. There’s not much mystery in what the selected cars represent, rendering them more of a novelty rather than an imaginative artist-made form that keeps me perpetually intrigued.
Also included is a vintage gas pump and eroded Mobil Pegasus sign. Arsham makes reference to Greek mythology in recent works of Greco-Roman figurative sculpture, and the Pegasus is drawn from the same ancient tales as an icon for Mobil Oil. Legend has it that the creature struck the ground on Mount Helion with its hoof and a spring sprouted from the break, bringing inspiration to those who drank from it.
I’ve read about Arsham’s riff on Greco-Roman sculpture. I don’t recall the aging process so neatly distributed with a precious gem reveal. All of his pieces read fabricated and 100% newly made along with their philosophical interpretations. When Arsham first started casting items that registered a specific decade’s flavor, I liked it. For example, an old school Boombox that had seen better days still seemed it could blare Run-DMC from the top of the stoop or your shoulder. This current work has loftier aspirations.
Heading back to my practical, affordable Ford Fusion—my other car is a ’63 Chevy Corvette Sting Ray split-window. Ha. I wish—parked on Farmer, I spotted the faux ad for an Arsham Porsche. Well, if anyone can get his own Porsche, it’s Daniel Arsham.
On view through August 7th at Library Street Collective 1274 Library Street, new entrance is in the Belt
These passages are direct quotes from an artist’s statement or a press release
*all images are mine
SHOWS OPEN THIS WEEKEND