“Sarah Sze: Timelapse” at the Guggenheim

At the Guggenheim Sarah Sze has created a web of time and place and object, in “Sarah Sze: Timelapse”. Sze’s site specific work constructs a scaffolding and organized chaos in the rotunda and surrounding spaces. “Timelapse” is a complex layering of sculpture, video, sound, painting and installation. Time is the namesake element of the work, with compositions of images and objects having a sense of history and fluidity. Imagery of birds, clouds and oceans denote peace in the natural world, in contrast with volcanic eruptions and geysers. Natural materials like sand blend with projections and artificial structures. At times the work is architecture, explosive, and ceremonial. Moments of peace are found within the chaos. “Timelapse” encapsulates the overwhelming multitudes of our modern existence.

In regards to “Slice” (2023), Sze describes the sense of transition, as the viewer can envision the construction and collapse. A grid of wood is built in a way that resembles a wave or a dam. Flux and movement are seen throughout the exhibit, works have moving parts and projections with changing imagery. In “A Certain Shot” (2023), a pendulum swings above a mound of salt, as time swings on light dances on the salt, an elemental material in our world. There is a precarious balance to the arrangements, acknowledging the uncertainty of their presence. 

There is a vibrational energy to Sze’s landscapes and interiors. At times it feels like things are crashing in on themselves, or exploding outward into space. The use of technology, screens, and projections is referential to the information overload we experience with the dominance of screens in our surroundings. “Timelapse” draws the viewer into ecosystems of fractured mirrors of our reality.  

Kris Thomas