Library Street Collective: Snarkitecture and Daniel Arsham

Library Street Collective is excited to announce the opening of The Beach Detroit, an interactive installation by New York-based design studio Snarkitecture. Situated in the heart of Downtown Detroit at 1001 Woodward Ave this free and family-friendly installation will be open to the public Friday, March 1, 2019 through Sunday, April 14th.

The Beach Detroit reimagines the familiar natural and cultural elements of a day at the beach to create an unexpected and memorable experience for people of all ages. Visitors ascend a ramp before entering an all-white enclosure, where the floor descends towards the highlight of the experience - an ocean of recyclable, antimicrobial plastic balls. Two piers extend out into the ‘sea’, allowing people to stand in the center of the space and watch others, while a separate island invites exploration and discovery. Visual cues such as deck chairs, lifeguard chairs, umbrellas, and signage recall elements of the typical beach-going experience. However, these elements become surreal within an entirely monochromatic environment.



Initially commissioned in 2015 by the National Building Museum in Washington DC, The Beach has travelled internationally; subsequent locations include the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, Central Embassy in Bangkok, and Sydney for Sydney Festival. Everyday materials, including scaffolding, paneling, and mirrors are used to allow for economical and sustainable re-installation of the project at venues around the world.

Snarkitecture is a collaborative design practice established to investigate the boundaries between art and architecture. The studio was co-founded in 2008 by artist Daniel Arsham and architect Alex Mustonen. Partner Benjamin Porto joined in 2014. The name is drawn from Lewis Carroll’s poem The Hunting of the Snark, which describes the “impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature”.

Anthony Curis, co-founder of Library Street Collective, is excited to bring The Beach Detroit to Downtown, “Snarkitecture’s work defies categorization. From museums, to public spaces, to retail interiors, the studio’s playful designs manipulate pre-existing ideas of how familiar spaces and materials should look or function. Often transforming existing architecture to create curious and contemplative spaces, Snarkitecture has earned international critical acclaim for its whimsical, immersive environments.”

With a conceptual approach centered on the importance of experience, the studio creates extraordinary moments that invite audiences to explore and engage.

Beginning on March 1st, The Beach Detroit will be open Wednesday-Friday 12:00PM-8:00PM, Saturday 10:00AM-8:00PM, and Sunday 12:00PM-6:00PM through April 14th. For more information on location, hours and how to make an online reservation in advance please visit us thebeachdetroit.com.

The Beach Detroit is produced by Library Street Collective with the assistance of Cranbrook Art Museum and is supported by Bedrock and Quicken Loans Community Fund.



The Source: A Catalog of Late-20th-Century American Relics
By Daniel Arsham
At Cranbrook Art Museum



The Beach Detroit opens in conjunction with Daniel Arsham’s exhibition The Source: A Catalog of Late-20th-Century American Relics at Cranbrook Art Museum. On view from March 1st to June 23rd in the museum’s lower level. The exhibition is supported by Library Street Collective.

In The Source: A Catalog of Late-20th-Century American Relics, artist Daniel Arsham continues his fictional archeology of the future through the creation of iconic objects and products of late-twentieth-century American life. Devoid of their natural coloration and in a seemingly petrified state, these newly produced works are exhibited as relics from the not-too-distant past—the unearthed remains, perhaps, of some unknown cataclysmic event. For the first time, such objects will be displayed as archeological artifacts inside the gallery, heightening the illusion of veracity and sense of authenticity.

In his Fictional Archaeology series, Arsham chooses iconic objects dating from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries—a time of technological acceleration and obsolescence that witnessed an increasing virtualization and dematerialization of the physical world. The objects are eroded casts that are expertly fashioned from materials such as sand, selenite crystal, or volcanic ash. The choice of objects for this presentation—sneakers, hip hop music, sporting goods—resonate with the artist’s early life, “all of these things that influenced me, particularly as a child and many of my peers.

Arsham will also deliver a public lecture at Cranbrook Art Museum at 6pm on March 1st.

Daniel Arsham, The Source: A Catalog of Late-20th-Century American Relics is organized by Cranbrook Art Museum with the generous support of Library Street Collective. For a catalog, please contact info@lscgallery.com