Daniel Arsham has recently announced a highly-anticipated collaboration with Pokémon for UNIQLO's UT Collection. What’s more exciting is that the artist also teamed up with The Pokémon Company for Pokémon‘s first collaborative art project with the artist, which is led by a sculptural collection dubbed ‘Relics of Kanta Through Time’.
The sculptural collection will be offered on 24 April on the artist’s recently launched art platform– Archive Editions– which is dedicated to selling limited edition artworks and collectables exclusively in China. The inaugural piece is an ERODED PIKACHU sculpture with a height of 33cm, a limited edition of 500 pieces.
The ERODED PIKACHU sculpture
Daniel Arsham making the ERODED PIKACHU sculpture in his studio
Materials for making the sculpture
Daniel Arsham is a contemporary American visual artist whose work exists in between art, architecture, and performance. His work often revolves around his concept of fictional archaeology, focusing on concepts of time and of how objects in the present embody ideas of the past and are destined to be transformed by the future. He has collaborated with renowned brands including Adidas, Be@rbrick and Dior.
Daniel Arsham also enjoys rising popularity at auctions. One of his most notable artworks is the RIMOWA x Daniel Arsham suitcase, a limited edition of 500. Some editions went up for auctions at leading auction houses such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, fetching prices between US$6,450-14,000.
Last year, Daniel Arsham donated his unique work Quartz Eroded Vogue Magazine 101 to the HOCA Foundation Benefit Auction at Phillips. The artwork made of quartz, selenite, hydrostone was sold for HK$2,312,500 (US$298,363), against its estimate of HK$150,000 - 250,000 (US$19,200-32,100).
RIMOWA x Daniel Arsham suitcase
A sketch of the ‘ERODED PIKACHU’ sculpture
The designed package of the ERODED PIKACHU sculpture
The design package of the ERODED PIKACHU sculpture
The collaborative sculptural collection between Daniel Arsham and Pokémon features icons of the Pokemon franchise presented within the artist’s creative concept of ‘fictional archaeology’. Through his work, people are invited to imagine the unearthing of Pokémon a thousand years from now and experience the passage of time. On the surface, Daniel Arsham’s Pokémon sculptures may look weathered, but closer examination of the excavated future of Pokémon exposes a crystallised brilliance.
Each ERODED PIKACHU sculpture, measuring 33 cm in height and weighing 5.13kg, is made of white cast resin and aluminium oxide. ERODED PIKACHU arrives in Arsham studio designed packaging with die-cut foam, sealing label, and a pair of white art handling gloves. The official release will be on April 24 on Archive Editions as part of a larger Pokémon collaborative project that includes a UNIQLO UT collection.
Daniel Arsham posted a video on the Chinese social media Weibo introducing Archive Editions, an art platform that he launched specifically for Chinese audiences. He said in the video, ‘I’m bringing a number of exclusive releases for Archive Editions in China. And over the next couple weeks, you will see a few of these roll out.’
In addition to the ‘ERODED PIKACHU’, we can expect the eroded sculptures of other beloved Pokémon characters coming from this collection. From the sketch and video posted on Daniel Arsham’s Instagram, we can take glimpses of his reimagined Ash Ketchum, Charmander, Blastoise and Jigglypuff. Pokémon fans don’t miss out on this!
A video that was taken in Daniel Arsham’s studio
Daniel Arsham’s sketch of Blastoise
Daniel Arsham’s sketch of Charmander
A video that was taken in Daniel Arsham’s studio