It’s the year 2045. The climate is changing, causing a dramatic rise and fall of sea levels and violent storms at alarming rates. This is artist Daniel Arsham’s vision of the future as he presents it in his film series, “Future Relic”, the 4th installment of which debuted at the Miami Beach EDITION hotel last week. The Brooklyn based artist is best known for the wit of his sculptures and stage settings, created using materials like minerals and volcanic ash, and his art has been a fixture in the Miami fairs.
“Future Relic 04” is a continuation of Arsham’s latest venture into cinema, a segmented film that will be released as a full-length feature in 2017. You may have heard of the film’s stars, which include James Franco as a futuristic archaeologist and Juliette Lewis as “Lona Rey,” whose character is on a mission to rescue the legacy of her scientist-father.
FUTURE RELIC 04 TEASER from Film the Future on Vimeo.
Arsham approaches the film-making process as he does with his art, with a great attention to details like the architecture, lighting, costuming and props. In a recent interview with Autre, Arsham said, “Film, more than anything, is the most difficult thing I have ever tried to accomplish. If I show work in a gallery or museum I can easily control everything from the light, the way people enter, and obviously what the work looks like. In film, you have to control everything, every last detail. Everything that you place on the screen means something.”
For last week’s premiere, Arsham and his creative team constructed an entire cockpit set as an installation as it appeared in the film. In the tradition of the screenings, attendees were also given the opportunity to purchase “future relic” art objects as an edition of 500. This time, it is a cast plaster sculpture cassette tape, a custom made stand, and art handling gloves.
The premiere coincided with Arsham’s “The Future was Written” exhibit at Young Arts Gallery, which will be home to nearly 2,000 of the artist’s “future relics” until December 11th- the same day that the film will be released on Nowness.com.
