Verbal Description: Clarissa Tossin, A cycle of time we don't understand (reversed, invented, andrearranged), 2017

Narrator: Clarissa Tossin’s work, titled a cycle of time we don’t understand (reversed, invented, and rearranged) 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.

The 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.

Like 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.