Walead Beshty

Performances Under Working Conditions . 2014

+ Petzel Gallery

In his new exhibition, Walead Beshty continues to explore the ways in which objects accrue and produce meaning through their placement and circulation in the world. Using the preexisting design of the gallery tables and desktops as a readymade, Beshty created polished raw copper sculptures built to the dimensions of the gallery’s working surfaces.
The “Copper Surrogates” were then installed replacing the gallery’s desks and left in place for his curated summer exhibition A Machinery for Living. As the gallery staff resumed their normal everyday work activities, their movements tarnished a patina on to the highly reflective copper surfaces. Much like film capturing a moment in time, the copper surrogates map the progression of the gallery staff’s immaterial labor: of discourse, transaction and negotiation. In September, the copper surrogates will be installed in the gallery, dislocating them from their original function.
Petzel Gallery

Reception 1 . 2014

Reception 2 . 2014

Reception 4 . 2014