Amie Siegel: Strata

About

Amie Siegel presents recent works exploring the mechanisms through which objects and materials become imbued with value. Projected on an impressive scale, Quarry traces the transition of marble from its excavation at the deepest underground quarry in the world, to its almost inevitable use in the interiors of modern luxury apartments in Manhattan skyscrapers. Beautiful, formally rigorous and underpinned by a dramatic orchestral soundtrack, Quarry draws us into a mesmerising exposé of the multi-layered relationships between art, labour and value. Fetish, shown in the first floor galleries, further reveals the complexity of these relationships by focusing on Sigmund Freud’s personal collection of archaeological statues and artefacts. Filmed at the Freud Museum, it portrays the nighttime cleaning of the psychoanalyst’s collection, suggesting echoes between the intimate, unveiling practices of object care and the ritualistic disclosures of analysis which are normally hidden from view.