Rob Hickman's DMMDIA Mirror Sculpture Transforms Smack Mellon's Industrial Space

Rob Hickman's installation DMMDIA at Smack Mellon from January 18 to March 2, 2014 transformed the gallery's industrial main space with a massive 3-D polyhedral mirror sculpture. Spanning an entire wall at 92 Plymouth Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn, the work reflected the architecture in infinite fragments through its pyramidal teeth. Measuring 48 feet long, the sculpture featured cleanly sliced top and bottom edges that created a rhythmic pattern of spikes. Hickman, a first-wave insider of the Williamsburg art scene, created a piece that combined savagery, elegance, and gaudiness while referencing Brooklyn's underground club culture. The press release described the effect as "retinal shrapnel" as the sculpture cast glittery, fractured reflections across the space. The installation's museum-scale horizontality emphasized the factory-like qualities of Smack Mellon's Piranesi-like venue. Visitors could imagine the work presiding over a dark warehouse rave, though it functioned equally well in silent daylight. The article suggested an all-night viewing event inspired by Warhol's Empire and Marclay's The Clock.