Future Relic series

"Future Relic" is a nine-part series by American artist Daniel Arsham, produced between 2013 and 2019, that pairs short films with sculptural editions to imagine a world where everyday technological objects have become archaeological artifacts. Each installment features a different collaborator — including James Franco, Pharrell Williams, and Juliette Lewis — navigating dystopian scenarios in which familiar devices such as cameras, telephones, and boom boxes are discovered as eroded, crystallized relics of a vanished civilization.

The accompanying sculptures, cast in materials like volcanic ash, hydrostone, blue calcite, rose quartz, and selenite crystal, transform mass-produced gadgets into objects that appear to have weathered centuries of geological time. Arsham's technique of embedding recognizable silhouettes within rough, mineral-encrusted surfaces creates a tension between technological precision and natural decay, a signature aesthetic he terms "fictional archaeology." The series established Arsham as one of the most recognizable voices in contemporary art bridging sculpture, film, and design.