Wendy Walker Silverman
Aspic and Ambrosia
Tinney Contemporary is pleased to present Arrokoth, a new exhibition by Andy Harding.
“Arrokoth” is the name of the most remote celestial object ever visited by a spacecraft, a billion miles past Pluto. Dubbed with the Powhatan word for “sky,” the light reflecting off of this object carries with it clues to the origins of life on earth. There is something innately human to the act of looking to the skies to make sense of life below — evident in celestial navigation, astrological signs, science-fiction, and entire ancient mythologies attributed to heavenly bodies.
“Arrokoth” is the name of the most remote celestial object ever visited by a spacecraft, a billion miles past Pluto. Dubbed with the Powhatan word for “sky,” the light reflecting off of this object carries with it clues to the origins of life on earth. There is something innately human to the act of looking to the skies to make sense of life below — evident in celestial navigation, astrological signs, science-fiction, and entire ancient mythologies attributed to heavenly bodies.
Harding’s work is thus in line with this tradition, deftly interweaving the tropes of cosmic horror and sci-fi with an awareness of cultural attitudes towards space to create an open-ended meditation on the vastness of the cosmos. The installation consists of sculptural objects of varying sizes reshaped from fallen trees into alien artifacts, resting on metal stands that evoke landing gear. Large-scale prints and video further the world-building element of the work by providing a glimpse into the supposed origin of the objects, floating in the abyss of space. The result is an eerie encounter with a cosmic Other, an engagement with mythologies old and new.
November 1 - December 15, 2020