“Wander & Pursuit” presents an anachronistic office environment rendered in bleak color palettes and composed as a symmetric, medieval walled garden adorned with figurative renderings of chivalric symbolism depicting idyllic moments of the hunt and romantic courtship. The show is the latest presentation from ASMA, the prolific Mexico City-based collaborative duo Matías Armendaris and Hanya Beliá. The show delves into the contemporary construction of a sense of purpose articulated through labor and the way identity is intertwined with ideas of yearning, fantasy, and desire which translate into metaphorical quests for a more meaningful existence.
These chivalric tales of fulfillment and destiny prevail as aspirational narratives of desire and realization reaffirm ideas of success achievable exclusively through the accumulation of multiple forms of capital. How do these narratives dictating contemporary life embody a clash between contradicting desires and fantasies? Does only an alienated nature seek adventure? These allegorical figures of grandness infiltrate our workplaces, which today have expanded beyond their place and into a quotidian setting, leaving the office to become a mere symbol itself, a ruin from a time in our past when life was divided into work and leisure. ASMA’s “Wander & Pursuit” is on view at Gaga LA until December 17th.
Editor’s Pick ASMA Wander & Pursuit
“Wander & Pursuit” presents an anachronistic office environment rendered in bleak color palettes and composed as a symmetric, medieval walled garden adorned with figurative renderings of chivalric symbolism depicting idyllic moments of the hunt and romantic courtship. The show is the latest presentation from ASMA, the prolific Mexico City-based collaborative duo Matías Armendaris and Hanya Beliá. The show delves into the contemporary construction of a sense of purpose articulated through labor and the way identity is intertwined with ideas of yearning, fantasy, and desire which translate into metaphorical quests for a more meaningful existence.
These chivalric tales of fulfillment and destiny prevail as aspirational narratives of desire and realization reaffirm ideas of success achievable exclusively through the accumulation of multiple forms of capital. How do these narratives dictating contemporary life embody a clash between contradicting desires and fantasies? Does only an alienated nature seek adventure? These allegorical figures of grandness infiltrate our workplaces, which today have expanded beyond their place and into a quotidian setting, leaving the office to become a mere symbol itself, a ruin from a time in our past when life was divided into work and leisure. ASMA’s “Wander & Pursuit” is on view at Gaga LA until December 17th.
See our collaboration with ASMA here.