Shahryar Nashat's Milan Exhibition Explores Hyperconsumerism

Shahryar Nashat's exhibition at Ordet in Milan examines hyperconsumerism through works that evoke abandoned objects in landfills, organic decay, and the endless cycle of production and waste. The show features pieces like 'Deeper and deeper,' a row of five worn mattresses supporting glass tanks filled with water, human tears, and saline solution from the Camargue—an ecosystem where a rosy bacterium thrives, giving flamingos their pink hue. The tanks, sealed in an aseptic environment, signify blocked relationality. The 'Brother' series presents acrylic and resin-filled vessels that suspend organic material in time. 'Blender' comprises 3D-printed domestic blenders as totems of a civilization obsessed with processing natural functions to combat bodily decay, creating hybrids of organic and artificial that cannot decompose or regenerate. 'Hustler_11.JPEG' features the artist's urine confined in vinyl bags, isolated in a makeshift plywood enclosure. 'Untitled' uses a glitch effect on a reproduction of Hans Holbein the Younger's painting of Christ's decomposing hand, reflecting on Christian resurrection as a phenomenon that bypasses organic decay, enabling a culture of consumption without accountability. The exhibition runs at Ordet, Milan.