Eliana Willis

“It’s magical. Liberating. It’s a superpower.” This is how Bennett Miller sees the art-making potential of A.I. The filmmaker has just opened his first exhibition at Gagosian, showcasing his new black-and-white pigment prints—except they’re images that have been algorithmically generated. Miller’s aim here isn’t just to spotlight A.I.’s growing suite of capabilities, but rather, how the technology is “presenting a change in kind, not just degree.”
Miller is no A.I. evangelist. In fact, he has spent the past five years developing a documentary on how technology has altered our realities in ways we know and more terrifyingly, don’t yet know. For all its promises, A.I., in Miller’s view, requires us to exercise “real awareness and consideration.”
“The emergence of A.I. has brought us to the precipice of imagination-defying transformations and there do not seem to be any adults in the room,” he told Artnet News. “The documentary was meant to be a means to hit pause and reflect on this extraordinary moment.”
Installation view of “Bennett Miller,” 2023. Photo: Rob McKeever, courtesy Gagosian.
One of the people Miller interviewed for the project was Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which led the director to experiment with one of the company’s leading products, the text-to-image generator DALL-E. What began as a “guessing game type search” would end up becoming a dynamic, almost collaborative process, he said, “whereby you can manipulate an imagination and endlessly manipulate its outputs.”
The software does have its limitations: Miller points out gaps in its knowledge and its failure to properly render hands and faces. But, he added, “if you’re open to finding different means by which it can realize what you’re working for, you might be surprised with what it can do.”
The group of images Miller produced with DALL-E, now displayed at Gagosian, range from serene landscapes to haunting portraits to foreboding abstractions. In their sepia tones and grainy textures, they evoke an earlier era of tintype photography—a nostalgia conjured and a lost technology reawakened by neural networks. All of it, needless to say, is fiction.
Bennett Miller, Untitled (2022–23). Photo: © Bennett Miller, courtesy the artist and Gagosian.
And Miller, in his day job, understands the malleable bounds of fiction. As a director, he has helmed such award-winning films as Foxcatcher, Moneyball, and Capote—all, notably, adapted from real-life events. Just as cinema can rewrite reality, far more advanced technologies could very well collapse it. 
Miller recalled that when he started working with DALL-E, the software was simply drawing from real images. But the more he used it, DALL-E began pulling from existing images as much as “non-real images” that it had previously generated.  
“It’s just layers upon layers of fiction,” he said. “It’s going to become increasingly difficult to distinguish or know with any type of certainty that anything you see is authentic.”
Which goes to the heart of the exhibition and Miller’s inquiry into this tech-driven shift in perception. If human memory is already shaky and media can be skewed, what more impact can A.I. have on our collective reality? Does the pope own a white puffer coat?
“I hope viewers will feel stirred to consider the significance of how these works were created,” said Miller about the exhibition. “I hope there will be an appreciation for how the works themselves are a product not only of A.I. but of those very concerns.”
See more images of the exhibition below.
Installation view of “Bennett Miller,” 2023. Photo: Rob McKeever, courtesy Gagosian.
Installation view of “Bennett Miller,” 2023. Photo: Rob McKeever, courtesy Gagosian.
Bennett Miller, Untitled (2022–23). Photo: © Bennett Miller, courtesy the artist and Gagosian.
Bennett Miller, Untitled (2022–23). Photo: © Bennett Miller, courtesy the artist and Gagosian.
Installation view of “Bennett Miller,” 2023. Photo: Rob McKeever, courtesy Gagosian.
“Bennett Miller” is on view at Gagosian, 976 Madison Avenue, New York, through April 22.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook: Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward. More

At a gallery in Los Angeles, photographer Justin Aversano recently debuted 78 new silkscreens, each featuring a portrait of an individual and printed on Egyptian papyrus. Ahead of the show, he also released every work in the series as an NFT on OpenSea, all of which swiftly sold out. 
The enthusiasm that has greeted the drop speaks to Aversano’s continued domination of the photography NFT space, spurred on by “Twin Flames,” widely recognized as one of the earliest photography projects on the blockchain. The collection has traded 5,900 ETH (about $10.7 million) in total volume to date, while the sale of Twin Flames #83 at Christie’s in October 2021 raked in a whopping $1.1 million, making Aversano one of the highest-selling photographers ever. 
Justin Aversano, Queen of Staffs from “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
The collection of works now on view at Gabba Gallery, through April 8, is meant to evoke a full tarot deck, with the photographer’s sitters standing in for cards from the Knight of Staffs to Eight of Swords, the Sun to the Moon.
As Aversano told Artnet News, the project, titled “Smoke & Mirrors,” took three years to complete, beginning in 2018 when he commenced photographing an assortment of artists, shamans, psychics, astrologers, family members, and known figures such as the Winklevoss twins. 
Justin Aversano, portrait #53 from the series “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
“There’s all these people who are in the project because I either looked up to them or they’re part of my everyday life and they represent that card,” he said. “It didn’t have to be magic or have a magical connection. It just needed to be the real reflection of what that card means.”
The works are also a way to level-up the NFT medium: “Photographs are the ultimate thing that can be minted,” Aversano said. And especially so for “Smoke & Mirrors,” where the papyrus in use offers a tactile counterpoint or connection to the data being inscribed on the blockchain. It’s through this mix of media, Aversano hopes, that the collection might develop layers of new meaning for the viewer.
The decision to silkscreen the portraits came down to the photographer’s desire to “evolve through the medium.” Just as his previous series have tapped traditional photographic processes—polaroids for “The Birthday Project” (2012), cyanotyping for “Twin Flames” (2017)—so this new collection reaches for another analogue technique to add pigment to his monochromatic portraits.
Justin Aversano, King of Coins from “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
“I like the idea of applying color to make the photograph more than just the photograph,” he said. “It’s playing with mediums and what a photograph can represent.”
The colors for each silkscreen, Aversano added, have been selected by the portrait’s subject, who also had their pick of which photograph he eventually used. “I, as a photographer,” he explained, “let go and surrender completely to the subject.”
Justin Aversano, portrait #72 from the series “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
“It’s introducing people to the tarot in a fun, novel way with photography, just seeing the mixed media of how photography could exist. What is it—more of a painting or more of a photograph?” he said of the series and exhibition. “It’s about transcending something basic to make it something more thoughtful.”
See more images from “Smoke & Mirrors” below.
Installation view of “Smoke & Mirrors” at Gabba Gallery. Photo courtesy of Gabba Gallery.
Justin Aversano, Four of Cups from “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
Justin Aversano, portrait #41 from the series “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
Justin Aversano, The World from “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
Justin Aversano, Knight of Staffs from “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
Justin Aversano, portrait #64 from the series “Smoke & Mirrors” (2023). Photo courtesy of the artist and Gabba Gallery.
Installation view of “Smoke & Mirrors” at Gabba Gallery. Photo courtesy of Gabba Gallery.
“Smoke & Mirrors” is on view at Gabba Gallery, 3126 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, through April 8.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook: Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward. More

Remember Google Glass or Crystal Pepsi? What happens to all the hyped-up inventions and tech breakthroughs that suddenly disappear without a trace? These and over 150 more failed innovations are now on public display at “Museum of Failure,” a touring exhibition that opened at Industry City in Brooklyn on March 17, after landing in cities including Calgary, Paris, Los Angeles, and Shanghai.
Among the once cutting-edge objects that visitors can expect to see are a handheld vinyl record player, the Hawaii exercise chair, Apple’s personal digital assistant Newton, the zero calorie fat substitute Olestra, self-destructing disposable DVDs, and several wannabe smartphones, including Twitter Peek, Microsoft Kin, and Amazon Fire Phone. Other bizarre famous flops include Trump steaks, Atari’s E.T. video game, Coke II, Bic’s pink pens for women, and a frozen beef lasagna by Colgate.
Trump steaks. Photo courtesy of Industry City.
Samuel West, who first founded the museum in Sweden in 2017 with items he collected from eBay, is a psychologist specializing in corporate behavior and hopes the exhibition’s stroll down memory lane won’t just amuse audiences but also serve as a reminder that failure is a normal part of progress and there is always a lesson to learn.
For example, the TeleGuides used in Sweden during the early 1990s are now remembered as an early version of the internet while the Nokia N-Gage or “Taco Phone” was short-lived but successfully preempted the mobile gaming industry.
“The main message that I want to convey with the museum is that it’s okay to share your inadequacies, your failures, your stupid questions, your unrefined ideas without being negatively judged,” he has said. “We need to accept failure.”
Preview a selection of historical fails from the collection below.
Polaroid’s Polavision, an “instant” color home movie system. Photo courtesy of Industry City.
A display including Coke II, Crystal Pepsi, and “daily pet drinks,” Thirsty Dog and Thirsty Cat. Photo courtesy of Industry City.
The Nokia N-Gage. Photo courtesy of Industry City.
Installation view of “Museum of Failure.” Photo courtesy of Industry City.
Installation view of “Museum of Failure.” Photo courtesy of Industry City.
The Itera bicycle and the Segway. Photo courtesy of Industry City.
A display of limited edition Oreo flavors including Limeade, Apple Cider, and Carrot Cake. Photo courtesy of Industry City.
Installation view of “Museum of Failure.” Photo courtesy of Industry City.
“Museum of Failure” is on view at Industry City, 900 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, New York, through May 14.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook: Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward. More

A new exhibition supporting the controversial news leaks and classified information-sharing website WikiLeaks has opened in London, featuring many of today’s most politically-minded artists. 
Organized by WikiLeaks with the London-based a/political foundation and the German Wau Holland Foundation, “States of Violence” explores the myriad ways artists and journalists have come to encounter repression in all its insipid forms, from police violence to state actors suppressing freedom of speech and access to information.
According to an a/political spokesperson, the exhibition is “an objection against government oppression.” While many of the works on display respond to physical violence exerted by different states, the exhibition emphasizes that there are also invisible methods of silencing opposition, and that these techniques pose the greatest threat to freedom of expression. 
The exhibition brings together a consortium of artists who have long explored political themes as the basis for art making, from Ai Weiwei to Dread Scott, Santiago Sierra, Forensic Architecture, and the late Vivienne Westwood.
On view through April 8, the show coincides with the fourth anniversary of the imprisonment of Wikileaks’s co-founder, Julian Assange, who is currently being held in Belmarsh prison in the U.K., awaiting extradition to the United States for computer intrusion charges stemming from the release of classified government documents he received from Chelsea Manning, a government whistleblower who worked within the U.S. military.
References to Assange and the organization he inspired can be found throughout the exhibition, such as a bookshelf featuring hard copies of classified government cables, which viewers are invited to peruse at their own risk—viewing the books will mean you could be prosecuted for the same crime Assange is facing extradition for.
Installation view of the 66 books printed of Wikileaks’ Cablegate files from 2010-2011. Courtesy a/political.
The exhibition also saw some of Assange’s most prominent supporters from across the U.K. in attendance. 
“What’s amazing about this exhibition here tonight are the works up for display,” Jeremy Corbyn, M.P. and former leader of the U.K.’s Labour Party told Artnet News at the exhibition’s preview on March 23.
Motioning to the long line of carefully assembled bound books, 66 in total, but representing only 6.2 percent of the material from Cablegate, one of Wikileaks’ largest leaks from 2010-11, Corbyn said it was the duty of art and artists to speak truth to power. 
When asked about the relationship between whistleblowing, democracy and art, Corbyn said artists and poets are able to tell truth in their own ways. “A poet can often tell greater truths without having to delve into that, because they’re telling the holistic story,” he said. “That’s why art is likewise so important and inspirational to people, especially when you think of the great causes of peace of the 19th and and early 20th centuries, it was artists who often inspired people to carry through in difficult times,” Corbyn noted.
Mentioning specifically his fondness for Picasso’s Guernica (1937), which depicts the Basque city after it was bombed during the country’s civil war, Corbyn situated the exhibition within a wider battle for truth and representation in the 21st century. Comparing Assange to Picasso, he asked “What’s different about Julian Assange? He has revealed on a mega-scale the totality of attacks on freedom of speech and democracy.”
The exhibition’s opening was also attended by Joseph Farrell, a journalist and WikiLeaks ambassador, as well as Chloe Schlosberg, director of Wau Holland Foundation, the German non-profit association whose stated mission is support the types of activities Wikileaks remains involved with.
“We’re here tonight to elevate Julian’s plight, and the plight of the assault on journalism in new and innovative ways,” Scholsberg said. 
On April 8, organizers are also planning a concert in Hackney featuring Bugzy Malone, Lowkey, Eva Lazarus, D Double E and My Nu Leng, an event they hope will inspire the youth to take up the cause of freedom of speech and information. 
“We hope that this will increase awareness in younger people. It’s about shifting the conversation using art and music,” Scholsberg said, adding: “it’s about how we keep Julian’s name in the conversation.”
“States of Violence” is on view through April 8 at a/political in London. See more images from the exhibition below. 
Andrei Molodkin, “Royal Blood” (2023), courtesy a/political
Andrei Molodkin, “Royal Blood” (2023). Courtesy a/political.
Installation view of Ai Weiwei / Pak. Courtesy a/political.
Installation view of the 66 books printed of Wikileaks’ Cablegate files from 2010-2011. Courtesy a/political.
Installation view with Santiago Seirra. Courtesy a/political.

Follow Artnet News on Facebook: Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward. More

When “City as Studio” opens today in Hong Kong, it will mark the arrival of the biggest exhibition of graffiti art the city has ever seen. Arrayed across the shopping complex of K11 Musea are more than 100 works that track graffiti’s stunning trajectory, springing off the subways cars of New York and highways of Los Angeles to emerge as a global art and market force. 
The show has as its curator Jeffrey Deitch, the artist, writer, and gallerist who isn’t just the latest guy to bring graffiti art to Hong Kong, but is quite likely the first.
Deitch, who grew tight with the genre’s leading artists in the mid 1970s when he moved to New York, had accompanied Dondi, Futura, and Zephyr to Hong Kong in 1982. The artists painted a parking garage, which eventually became the I Club, marking the Wild Style pioneers’s first-ever visit to Asia.
Fab 5 Freddy, Return Of God To Africa (1984). Photo courtesy of the artist.
In curating “City as Studio,” Deitch told Artnet News, “I wanted to focus on artistic innovators and include artists whose influence continues to be felt.”
Hence the inclusion of downtown New York practitioners such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rammellzee, and Kenny Scharf, Wild Style innovators including Futura and Lady Pink, and Los Angeles leading lights such as Chaz Bojórquez and Mister Cartoon. Today’s street art scene is also represented by works from Kaws, Aiko, JR, and Osgemeos. 
Deitch himself is excited to present a number of paintings by Martin Wong, the Chinese-American artist who documented New York street life with poetic realism, and an avid collector of graffiti sketchbooks.
Martin Wong, Untitled (Bicycle Boy) (1997-98). Photo: © Estate of Martin Wong, courtesy of William Lim c/o Living Limited, the Estate of Martin Wong and P•P•O•W, New York.
While the exhibition launches in time to coincide with Art Basel Hong Kong, it also marks the 50th anniversary of hip hop, of which graffiti forms a key element. Alongside the artworks, “City as Studio” has gathered historic photographs by the likes of Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper to situate the art form within the then-burgeoning movement. Its curator, too, has had the opportunity to reflect on graffiti’s, and in turn hip hop’s, continued influence.
“I start my catalog essay with the observation that the Wild Style graffiti that was invented by teenagers in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Lower Manhattan might be the most influential art movement since Pop art,” Deitch said. “You see street art around the world influenced by these innovations. The three linked creative forms: hip hop, Wild Style graffiti, and breakdancing defined a remarkable cultural moment and they continue to resonate.”
See more artworks from the exhibition below.
“City as Studio” is on view at K11 Musea, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, through May 14, 2023.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Valentine (1984). Photo: © Lisa Kato, courtesy of Paige Powell.
Kenny Scharf, BLOBZIC (2018). Photo courtesy of the artist.
Chaz Bojórquez, Mr. Lucky (2019). Photo courtesy of the artist.
Haroshi, Mosh Pit (2019). Photo: © Genevieve Hanson, courtesy of the artist, Jeffrey Deitch, and NANZUKA.
Lady Pink, TC5 in the Ghost Yard (2020). Photo courtesy of the artist.
KAWS, UNTITLED (NICOLE MILLER) (1996). Photo: Farzad Owrang, © KAWS, courtesy of the artist.
Rammellzee, SIGMA-BATTL’S A GO (ca. 1985). Photo courtesy of the Estate of Rammellzee.
Gusmano Cesaretti, Chaz Running (1973). Photo: © Gusmano Cesaretti, courtesy of Gusmano Cesaretti.
Henry Chalfant, Mad PJ (1980). Photo courtesy of the artist and Eric Firestone Gallery.
Keith Haring / LA II, Untitled (1983). Photo: © Adam Reich. LA II Artwork © LA II / Keith Haring Artwork © Keith Haring Foundation, courtesy of K11 Collection.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook: Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward. More

Glenn Adamson has established himself as an authority on contemporary craft, with former positions as Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London and Director of New York’s Museum of Art and Design (MAD). Increasingly, the domain lends itself as much to fine art as it does collectible design, with Adamson positioned as a thought leader in both. Adamson also writes books and essays, hosts panels, teaches and lectures, and consults widely. In the comprehensive compendium The Craft Reader (2010), the polymath synthesized the full breadth of craft theory. Fewer Better Things (2018) is Adamson’s ode to the objects in our homes that we imbue with personal narrative and value. He is currently at work on A Century of Tomorrows, a new book about the history of the future. Hosted since 2020, his video series Design in Dialogue has covered topics ranging from 3D-printing to social housing and has featured designers such as Sheila Hicks, Stefan Sagmeister, and Jacques Herzog of architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. At the core of his practice, however, is curation. While at the V&A, he helped mount “Postmodernism: Style and Subversion,” an extensive historical survey of the movement. At New York gallery Friedman Benda, Adamson guest-curated the “Static” exhibition of 2017, which analyzed the impetus behind Italian Radical Design in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Chatsworth House
Now, Adamson has guest-curated “Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth,” working with Chatsworth’s senior curator of program, Alex Hodby, to strategically place contemporary design pieces in various rooms of the storied estate in central England, a museum in its own right. Joining forces again with the Friedman Benda, Adamson highlights a diverse group of 16 talents, ranging from Memphis Group founder Ettore Sottsass and contemporary master Michael Anastassiades to rising stars Najla El Zein and Fernando Laposse. 
Glass works by Ettore Sottsass that appear in “Mirror Mirror.” Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Ettore Sottsass.
We spoke with the independent curator about the dynamic showcase (on view March 18 to October 1, 2023), delving into his perspectives on contemporary design, craft, collectible culture, and his own collecting practice.   What’s the concept behind the “Mirror Mirror” exhibition? What’s significant about the estate in both a historic and contemporary context?  The name of the exhibition obviously references the fairytale. Our concept was to create dialogues between contemporary work and the examples of historical art, architecture, and design already in place at Chatsworth and to uncover how one reflects the other. I did a Design in Dialogue talk with the current owner, Duke of Devonshire Peregrine Cavendish (“Stoker”) about his ceramics collection back in 2020, which sparked a longer, ongoing conversation. His family has a legacy of commissioning new art and design for the primarily Baroque-style property specific to their time, fostering what’s cutting-edge from an aesthetic and technical standpoint. One has only to think of the estate’s 1730 William Kent armchairs that represent the latest artisanal innovations of the time. Joseph Paxton’s 1832 Chatsworth Greenhouse was groundbreaking at the time and set the standard for the typology. The Cavendishes have kept up this practice of patronage to the present day. 
Fernando Laposse in “Mirror Mirror.” Courtesy of Chatsworth House.
Take us through some of the pairings.  We looked closely at Chatsworth’s different interiors—the furnishings and architectural details—and carefully chose existing pieces by designers that we felt would best lock into the scenarios on a primarily material level. Following certain thematics, we set out to illuminate both the pieces and the context by highlighting their similarities and differences. The house is impressive in that it’s not an inert historic situation being disrupted through a series of contemporary interventions, but rather the result of continuous creative re-imagining. It’s the first property of its kind to have become a visitable site, a model similar locales have adopted to remain viable.
Andile Dyalvane in “Mirror Mirror.” Courtesy of Chatsworth House.
We placed South African ceramicist Andile Dyalvane’s abstract vessels—Cornish Waterfall (2019) and Ngxondorha (Volatile Rocky Terrain) (2021), among other works—in direct dialogue with British ceramics artist Edmund de Waal’s A Sounding Line installation. Their approaches differ but both have responded to the surroundings in different ways in their respective collections. Both also attest to historic American ceramicist Michael Leach as a source of inspiration. Exhibitor Ndidi Ekubia uses the same silversmithing handwriting and chasing techniques you would see in an 18th-century object at Chatsworth but in a manner that’s more contemporary and abstract. Max Lamb uses a bandsaw to cut up wooden fragments and reassemble them in the 6-by-8 chair, bench, and table series. He’s not implementing traditional wood carving techniques as you might find articulated throughout the house. 
Max Lamb in “Mirror Mirror.” Courtesy of Chatsworth House.
What can the estate’s history as both a platform for art and design teach us about holistic collecting and patronage?  Very few people are in a position to do what the Cavendishes have done, partly because their house is so extraordinary. However, if you think about it on a smaller scale, it becomes much more about building a story in a continuous way. Even if it’s about shaping a space with fewer resources that might exist for a shorter period of time, you can still think of collecting as this kind of cumulative or additive practice, a stratigraphy if you will. Collecting isn’t always thought of in that way. For many, it’s about growing a collection in size rather than over time.  Regardless, there’s been a shift in the past 20 years or more in how collectors view what I call avant garde design. I prefer this term to ‘collectible’ as it englobes a wider scope of work and research currently being conducted in Europe, Asia, and increasingly in the United States, if not also elsewhere.
Joseph Walsh in “Mirror Mirror.” Courtesy of Chatsworth House.
There’s been a significant growth in this market that runs parallel to the acquisition of fine art. A lot of the people that were initially and maybe still collecting this kind of material have begun acknowledging that the rest of their domestic interior can attain the same rigor as their paintings and sculptures. They might have Gerhard Richter on the wall but pair it with a West Elm sofa. There’s nothing wrong with that brand but why not think about functional seating as being every bit as intellectually or visually challenging as the Richter? In its ability to transcend time, Chatsworth demonstrates this all-encompassing approach and to great effect. If you look at Chatsworth, the value of the handmade cannot be understated. It’s an amazing repository of craft works and craft history and so it serves as the perfect context to explore this focus. 
Samuel Ross in “Mirror Mirror”. Courtesy of Chatsworth House.
How has craft continue to play a role in this evolution?  Craft is inextricably linked to the avant garde lineage that runs between the decorative arts, Radical Italian Design, Dutch design, work being done by Japanese talents like Shiro Kuramata, and more recent movements. The entire ecosystem centers on artisan knowledge, and material intelligence. Dyalvane, Ekubia, and Lamb are strong proponents of this impetus. Exhibitor Samuel Ross is also interesting because he’s able to work between what we might consider industrial and craft production. Presented in the home’s sculpture gallery, works like his Anxiety Birthed Corrosion table or Amnesia or Platelet Apparition lounger blend both more readily available industrial components and noble materials like marble. If there’s one place in the show where you feel like the conversation between the present and the past is its highest pitch, his work stands out. The pieces are also imbued with a significant amount of self reflection and expression. It’s important to mention that 20 years ago we might not have seen as much diversity represented in this market. 
Jay Sae Jung Oh in “Mirror Mirror.” Courtesy of Chatsworth House.
If we look at where the scene is now and where it’s headed, there are two lines of inquiry that seem the most prevalent to me. On the one hand, there’s an increased interest in almost alchemical material research. Half of the designers in the “Mirror Mirror” center the practices on this preoccupation. For them it’s not necessarily about inventing new materials but inventing new ways of working with available matter and developing objects accordingly. Korean designer Jay Sae Jung Oh implements an analog cord wrapping technique but does so in such a manner that the seemingly mundane component becomes transformative in its application. It’s equally parts resourcefulness and imagination. Chris Schank does a great job of this as well by combining waste materials in singular, crystalline, almost geological forms using layers colored resin foil. On the other hand, there’s a growing desire to explore the spiritual resonance of objects. Both American designer Ini Archibong and British designer Faye Toogood are on this wavelength. 
Faye Toogood in “Mirror Mirror.” Courtesy of Chatsworth House.
Shifting gears slightly, could you talk about your own collecting practice?  I live in a Hudson Valley house purpose-built by Postmodern ceramic artist duo Phillip Maberry and Scott Walker. Defined by larger boulders with poured concrete connecting them, the home is almost like a walk-in sculpture with colorful tiles throughout. It might not come as a surprise that what I mostly collect is also studio ceramics. The medium was my entry into the avant garde design scene and something I still cherish. I eat my breakfast out of Warren Mackenzie bowls. I also have a Jolie Ngo vessel that I received after helping her complete a thesis project at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work is interesting because she’s one of the only digital native designers that I know of who is still implementing handbuilding techniques all while looking to combine different approaches and materials.    More Trending Stories: Banksy Created His Latest Artwork on a Rundown Farmhouse by the British Seaside—Only to Have It Immediately Destroyed A German Man Just Learning How to Use a Metal Detector Uncovered a Hoard of Buried Byzantine Jewelry and Silver Coins The New York Art World Had High Hopes for Black Wall Street Gallery. Allegations Against Its Founder Have Soured Those Dreams New York’s ‘Hot Dog King’ Has Held Court Outside the Met Museum for Years. Now Fans Are Rallying to Stop the City From Ejecting Him Sotheby’s Surrealism Sale Fails to Meet Expectations, Pulling in an Under-Estimate $18 Million With Several Blue-Chip Works Going Unsold In His Upstate New York Studio, Stefan Bondell Paints Day and Night, Fueled by Hudson River Light and Copious Amounts of Sugar We Spoke to the ‘Anguished’ Barcelona Residents Fighting to Prevent the Completion of Gaudí’s Famed Sagrada Familia ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ Is a Truly Great Artist Documentary. Here’s What Makes It Work So Well Who Was Leonardo da Vinci’s Mom, Actually? A Provocative New Book Suggests She Was a Slave From the Caucasus of Central Asia Kenny Schachter Pays a Mind-Bending Visit to Beeple’s New High-Tech Art Compound (Getting in Plenty of Trouble Along the Way)
Follow Artnet News on Facebook: Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward. More