Artist Daniel Arsham has collaborated with Scottish distillery The Balvenie on a new whiskey collection entitled “Dawn of Our Spirit,” which will be unveiled on September 1st in partnership with Frieze Seoul. The collection will be introduced through an immersive, sensorial performance directed by Arsham.
The performance draws on the meditative process of turning barley grain on a malting floor, an important step in the preparation of whiskey. Arsham visited the distillery’s own malting floor in Speyside, Scotland, which opened around 1931 and remains unchanged. “The distillery itself is so materially rich: the barley grain, the copper stills, the wooden casks crafted in the cooperage, combined with an array of evocative time-infused scents and ambient sounds,” Arsham said. “I’m looking forward to expressing this through our performances during Frieze Seoul.”
The Balvenie’s malt master Kelsey McKechnie, who conceived the collection, called it “a true celebration of master craftmanship and the creative power of time,” adding that Arsham’s “artistic storytelling will bring the treasured and fundamental aspect of The Balvenie’s Home Malting Floor to a world stage.”
The project extends Arsham’s long list of brand collaborations, which include Dior, Adidas, and Rimowa, as well as an ongoing partnership with Tiffany & Co. dating to 2021. Arsham also serves as creative director for the NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers, for whom he redesigned the team’s logo.
His gallery artistic practice has continued alongside this commercial work. His most recent exhibition “Various Thoughts” closed at Perrotin New York in April, coinciding with the release of his autobiography, Future Relic.
The Balvenie x Arsham unveiling arrives during a packed week for the Korean capital. Frieze Seoul returns to COEX in Gangnam for its fifth edition from September 2nd to 5th, hosting more than 125 galleries from 30 countries. The fair will run concurrently with Kiaf Seoul, the country’s longest-running international art fair, which will welcome 175 galleries for its 25th edition, also at the COEX.
Following its Seoul debut, “Dawn of Our Spirit” will travel to New York, Shanghai, and Taipei.
