Asterisms by Gabriel Orozco

Asterisms by Gabriel Orozco is the final project of the program commissioned by the Guggenheim in Berlin. It consists of a photographic and sculptural installation that uses near 2,400 objects collected by the artist from a playground near his house in New York and from the coast in Baja California Sur, Mexico, where commercial waste makes its way through the Pacific Ocean.

The project with be exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggenheim in New York until January 13. It includes the following installations: Sandstars and Astroturf Constellation.

Sandstars was created on the beach of Isla Arena, at Bahía de Guerrero Negro along the coast of Baja California Sur. There, Orozco collected around 1,200 souvenirs from the waste this beach receives each year brought by the Pacific currents. These are several types of objects, including; containers, sticks, old brooms, balls, shells, pieces of wood, etc. Orozco used these to produce an enormous installation in which each and every one of these residues finds its place through careful classification.

Next to this attractive carpet of coastal waste, Orozco also exhibits Astroturf Constellation, a group of similar small objects from a different context: this time they are remnants from a sporting event for the masses: everything that was discarded and thrown on the artificial grass after hours of consumption while supporting a team: chewing gum, plastic fragments, candy wrappers, cords, etc.

Both installations move in a provocative oscillation between macro and micro elements that serve as subjects of recurrent reflections in Orozco's production; traces of erosion, poetic encounters through mundane materials, or the tensions between nature and culture.