{"data":{"id":"59738","type":"artwork","attributes":{"id":59738,"topgoose_id":23374,"portfolio_id":null,"tms_id":59738,"title":"A cycle of time we don't understand (reversed, invented, and rearranged)","display_artist_text":"Clarissa Tossin","display_date":"2017","accession_number":"2019.35a-e","dimensions":"Dimensions variable","medium":"Silicone, walnut, faux terracotta (dyed plaster)","department":"collection","classification":"Sculpture","credit_line":"Purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee","is_virtual":false,"is_portfolio":false,"portfolio_tms_id":null,"portfolio":null,"edition":null,"publication_info":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eClarissa Tossin, \u003cem\u003eA cycle of time we don't understand (reversed, invented, and rearranged)\u003c/em\u003e, 2017. Silicone, walnut, faux terracotta (dyed plaster), dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2019.35a-e. © Clarissa Tossin\u003c/p\u003e","object_label":null,"ai_alt_text":"Beige carved panels and small orange hands and feet are arranged on a white gallery wall.","alt_text":"A white wall with terracotta inscribed tiles on opposite corners. In the center are two orange hands and one orange foot.","visual_description":"\u003cp\u003eClarissa Tossin’s work, titled\u0026nbsp;\u003ci\u003ea cycle of time we don’t understand (reversed, invented, and rearranged)\u003c/i\u003e\u0026nbsp;from 2017, is a sculpture of variable dimensions displayed on a white wall. Composed of five distinct sculptural elements made of silicone, walnut, and faux terracotta, the work balances and plays with relationships between positive and negative space. Toward the upper left, a corner of what could be a wall or a screen extends longer horizontally than it does vertically. The border of the wall or screen is made of brown wood. The screen itself is fragmented and fractured. Etched into the material are Mayan symbols and hieroglyphs. Toward the center, two orange hands are affixed to the wall. While both hands have their palms facing the viewer, one hand is turned upward and the other is turned downward. The upside down hand has a tan cord dangling from behind it. Below the hands is a small orange foot with its toes pointing towards the ceiling. In the bottom right corner is a continuation of the upper left; a small right-angled piece of wood framing surrounding a fragmented piece of wall or screen is inscribed with symbols or hieroglyphs. The use of negative space is notable: the work is as much what is presented as what is not. The fractured pieces of wall or screen suggest an interrupted story, an incomplete telling or, perhaps, a purposeful redaction.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe installation explores appropriation, representation, and translation. The work is based on the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles—a prototypical example of the late 1920s Mayan Revival style that co-opted the architecture and iconography of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. Originally a venue showcasing a range of theatrical productions, including musicals and comedies, this Mayan-inspired setting has also been used as a Hollywood film set, a porn theater, and now a nightclub since 1990.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike the architecture of the Mayan Theatre itself, Tossin’s work fractures the idea of the copy. Not forgetting the power dynamics at play, Tossin looks to appropriation as a process of translation and recreation, acknowledging that some elements of comprehension or context are lost.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"created_at":"2019-03-29T01:00:08.759-04:00","updated_at":"2026-02-06T12:02:03.324-05:00","images":[{"id":116583,"url":"https://whitneymedia.org/assets/artwork/59738/2019_35a-e_vw1_cropped.jpg"}]},"relationships":{"artists":{"data":[{"id":"18518","type":"artist"}]}}}}