Daniel Arsham is an American multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Arsham’s work draws from architecture and performance art while playing with elements of surrealism.
Located inside 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, Sports Ball Galaxy brings together basketballs, footballs, cricket balls and more to form an unexpected chandelier. Constructed using foam-filled cast hydro-stone and pigment, the ball structures are strung onto a steel cable, attached to a bracket which is bolted to the ceiling. The single shade used to colour and coat the balls creates the appearance of a raw, unfinished structure, reminiscent of Arsham’s signature style. The lack of diverse or accurate colouring is also representative of Arsham’s personal struggle with colour-blindness, which has prompted him to subversively use ‘incorrect’ colours in his work.
A recurring theme found in Arsham’s work is ‘erosion’; the facades of many of his structures appear deteriorated, as if they have been eaten away. This technique, also used in Sports Ball Galaxy, evokes the illusion that the artwork lies in between the contemporary and the antique.
