Dig is an installation and performance by Daniel Arsham/Snarkitecture at Storefront for Art and Architecture and made possible by OHWOW that explores the architecture of excavation. Storefront's distinctive gallery space will be filled with a solid volume of EPS architectural foam, engulfing the existing interior in an unyielding flood of white. The volume will then be excavated using simple tools - hammers, picks and chisels - to transform a stock industrial material into a strange, unexpected cavern for both work and play.
Daniel Arsham/Snarkitecture will both create and inhabit Dig for the duration of the subsequent month-long installation, carving spaces from solid infill in a performance open to public view. The facade of Storefront will act as a human ant farm, framing the work occurring within for outside passerby. Inside the remaining gallery space, a cave-like entrance will open into the solid form, inviting viewers to watch the excavation of an unreal space in real time.
Dig is an experiment between the precision of the architectural plan and the looseness of the unknown. The installation and performance explore an intersection of primitivism and contemporary architecture; the complexity of the final surfaces and form suggests a digital origin and conceals the simplicity of a space made entirely by hand. The solid volume is excavated and inhabited by basic necessity, but also engages in careful play with the existing architecture of Storefront. Dig uncovers the inconceivable within the conceivable.
Exhibition
Preceding the installation, a month long exhibition of studies and conceptual models will document an ongoing dialogue between ideas of notational precision and fabricated looseness. This negotiation of design logic with sculptural intuition sets the stage for the interaction between the artist and viewer. (March 1 - March 28)
Installation
The gallery will be filled almost in its totality, transforming the entire space into a deep facade. (March 29 - April 4)
Performance
In the final stage, Arsham/Snarkitecture will both create and inhabit Dig for the duration of the installation. They will first carve out spaces for inhabitation with tunnels, crevices and peepholes providing views from both the interior of Storefront and the gallery space of the street. In the second stage, collective gatherings will be held as a performance open to public view. To experience the sense of play incited byDig and its quest for moments of architectural reinvention and surprise, invitation only excursions and encounters will take place inside the work in progress. (April 5 - 22)
Performances
April 5, 8, 14, 19, 21, 22 from 3-6 PM
Closing Reception
April 23, 2011, 7pm