DE STIJL TRANS AM
Levi Robb, 2024
"Transparency has this beautiful kind of paradox to it: these objects are massive in tonnage and fragile—they have very odd qualities in one package that I think people sense. My friend’s question points to the opacity of extreme transparence. The object has a kind of presence that takes it away from simple visual or common sense understanding."
- Roni Horn, "Roni Horn with Jarrett Earnest." Interview by Jarrett Earnest. The Brooklyn Rail, Dec. 2013/Jan. 2014.
From the super flat
to the very flat
to the hyper flat
to the fatty flat
it's just not flat
Picture yourself driving between the highway and the river, try not to think too much about the surface you are on but focus on what is ahead and within your peripheral. To your right reflections off the water and to your left the light that bounces off the medium from oncoming headlights. You try not to think about the surface you are driving on, but you cannot help but feel the constant tumble in the topography as the ground is just not flat. The highway on your left is smooth and offers a chance to just cruise and the river although quite tantalizing in its ripple and glass like presence would just consume you with a single ‘sink’. So, you stay in between, within this space of the unfinished as you feel the tire hit a branch or old sheet of plywood causing your head to strike the visor above. You think for a second, just veer left, and you are on easy street and feel nothing, just endless bliss or just turn right and sink it all with one final beautiful plunge. But that is not the road trip you are on, as you must stay between the two, the road and the river, the finish and the plunge, and at a certain moment every bump and tumble disappears while Bob Dylan plays through your speakers and you De Stijl these two spaces within the Trans Am.
Levi Robb, 2024
"Transparency has this beautiful kind of paradox to it: these objects are massive in tonnage and fragile—they have very odd qualities in one package that I think people sense. My friend’s question points to the opacity of extreme transparence. The object has a kind of presence that takes it away from simple visual or common sense understanding."
- Roni Horn, "Roni Horn with Jarrett Earnest." Interview by Jarrett Earnest. The Brooklyn Rail, Dec. 2013/Jan. 2014.
From the super flat
to the very flat
to the hyper flat
to the fatty flat
it's just not flat
Picture yourself driving between the highway and the river, try not to think too much about the surface you are on but focus on what is ahead and within your peripheral. To your right reflections off the water and to your left the light that bounces off the medium from oncoming headlights. You try not to think about the surface you are driving on, but you cannot help but feel the constant tumble in the topography as the ground is just not flat. The highway on your left is smooth and offers a chance to just cruise and the river although quite tantalizing in its ripple and glass like presence would just consume you with a single ‘sink’. So, you stay in between, within this space of the unfinished as you feel the tire hit a branch or old sheet of plywood causing your head to strike the visor above. You think for a second, just veer left, and you are on easy street and feel nothing, just endless bliss or just turn right and sink it all with one final beautiful plunge. But that is not the road trip you are on, as you must stay between the two, the road and the river, the finish and the plunge, and at a certain moment every bump and tumble disappears while Bob Dylan plays through your speakers and you De Stijl these two spaces within the Trans Am.
Photos Courtesy of Levi Robb
Photos Courtesy of Dan Schwalm
Email conversations with Levi Robb regarding this exhibition:
About the Artist:
Levi Robb is a multidisciplinary artist and architect. Robb’s work explores the role of material perception and identity within social, environmental, and cultural contexts. His practice investigates how we attach memory to object, landscape and architecture – how we search for joy and fulfillment within the confines of these day-to-day items – and how their applied labels shift and evolve over time. The formal qualities of his work visually breakdown, abstract and reconstruct discarded forms – often transposing cast objects and material found on the landscape by reassembling the castings as archetypal sculpture. His work has been exhibited internationally and is in both public and private collections.
www.levirobb.com
Levi Robb is a multidisciplinary artist and architect. Robb’s work explores the role of material perception and identity within social, environmental, and cultural contexts. His practice investigates how we attach memory to object, landscape and architecture – how we search for joy and fulfillment within the confines of these day-to-day items – and how their applied labels shift and evolve over time. The formal qualities of his work visually breakdown, abstract and reconstruct discarded forms – often transposing cast objects and material found on the landscape by reassembling the castings as archetypal sculpture. His work has been exhibited internationally and is in both public and private collections.
www.levirobb.com