ComplexCon may only be two days, but ask anyone who’s ever attended the event, and it’s the best 48 hours of their life. And after months of planning, it’s finally here.
Touching down in Las Vegas for the second year, sneaker enthusiasts, foodies, streetwear connoisseurs, and anyone looking for a vibe know that ComplexCon is where it can be found.
To give this year’s event something different, visual artist Daniel Arsham was enlisted to be the ComplexCon creative director, and part of his responsibilities was to recreate the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. Never afraid of a challenge, Arsham went straight to work.
Borrowing from Vegas’ rich history, Arsham began sketching designs. The goal was simple: pay homage to the past while pushing the work forward. “My work is about taking things that we know, and reforming them into these new design objects that have some opposite or other meaning to them,” Arsham said.
The outcome was a Tiffany green bronze patina structure, which was revealed on Friday (October 24) evening, before Day 1 of ComplexCon. While speaking about the creative process, Arsham said the choice to use patina was to inform attendees that, despite how new the sign is, it’s made with longevity in mind.
“The green patina is something I’ve used on a lot for my sculptures. It’s something that we relate to art history. You think of the Statue of Liberty or a sculpture outside of a museum, they tend to turn into this green patina over time, and it gives the work an artificial age to it. It makes the work look like it’s been around for a long time.”
And you know what, this sign will be.
Thanks, Mr.Arsham