Car Accumulation (Matchbox Cars) 1985

Arman made this "Car Accumulation (Matchbox Cars)" by accumulating matchbox cars, then setting them in resin. It's kind of wild to see all these toy cars stuck together, not moving, and what's especially strange is how the clear resin both reveals and obscures them, creating this tension that makes you wanna look closer. The surface is glossy and hard, but the cars themselves are colorful and have a lot of little details, like racing stripes, and license plates. The different colors and shapes of the cars create a kind of organized chaos, and if you zoom in on the silver car near the top, you can see how the light bounces off it, making it almost glow, which contrasts with the more matte finish of the other cars, adding to the texture and visual interest of the piece. I'm reminded of Kurt Schwitters, who also used everyday objects in his art, creating something new from the stuff around him. This piece invites you to think about how we collect things, and what it means to give value to the objects in our lives.