‘Dark Matter’ is Troika’s largest single sculptural form to date and a 'real-world simulation' of a complex spatial system created in a virtual space. It premiered at Art Basel Unlimited 2014, and was subsequently exhibited at ZKM Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe in 2015 alongside artists Yuri Ancarani, Camille Henrot and Conrad Shawcross.
In the sculpture three different viewpoints coexist. Immersing the viewer and ungraspable in its entirety, the volume displays a paradoxically shifting reality, showing three distinct geometrical shapes at different vantage points - a square, a hexagon and a circle.
Jutting out from 4 intersecting cones of vision, so complex that they could only originate and be drawn in virtual space, are the distinct purposeful shapes that frame the perimeter of the sculpture which is suspended and floating as if still sitting in a limitless vacuum. Yet, contrary to its digital origin, the physicalised version has a weight, a size and takes up space, becoming a way to understand the viscerality and physical presence of the virtual space it was created in. Selected for its ostensible ability to swallow light, the volume is covered in black flock contributing even further to the eery, flattened and artificial nature of the object.
The work is part of Troika's perspective sculptures series which began with ‘Squaring the Circle’ (2013), followed by ‘Polar Spectrum’ (2015) and ‘Everything is and isn't at the same time’ (2015).
Read more:
J.J. Charlesworth, ArtReview / Art Basel 2014 roundup
Francesca Gavin, Artsy / 8 Artist to discover at Art Basel 2014
Lisa Contag, Boluin Artinfo / Q & A/ Troika on ‘Dark Matter’ at Art Basel