If you’re anything like me, you’ll be shipping loads of presents through FedEx this Christmas. A weirdly fascinating exhibit by artist Walead Beshty gives us an inside look at what happens to our carefully packaged boxes of goodies once they leave our hands and begin their journey to our loved ones.
The sculptures, which have been grabbing visitors attention since 2005, focus mainly on what happens to a container between the time that you send it and the time that it arrives. Beshty calls this the “space and time” where we're not able to witness its journey.
Each of the glass vitrines are the exact same dimension as the FedEx box it will be shipped inside.
After the glass is carefully inserted, Beshty then ships the boxes to the site of the exhibition, where they are displayed in whatever condition they arrived.
Two of Beshty's sculptures are seen. (Photo: Helene Toresdotter)
More often than not, the glass boxes are completely cracked, showing what Beshty calls the “hidden life” of the sculpture (aka the package), as it makes its way to its final destination. Each sculpture is given a name that acts as a record of whatever journey the box took.
Beshty’s traveling glass sculptures can be found all over the world, one place where you can get a look into the life of your wayfaring Christmas packages is London's Thomas Dane Gallery.
