Artist Daniel Arsham, Hublot and a Giant Sundial in the Swiss Alps

Hublot’s ties to the art world are extensive. They celebrated ten years of ‘Hublot Loves Art’ in 2021. Daniel Arsham is now the newest member of the Hublot Family of Ambassadors from the arts and music world, joining Richard Orlinski, Lang Lang, Samuel Ross, Takashi Murakami, Maxime Plescia-Buchi and many more.

Hublot and Daniel Arsham

As the Hublot saying goes, “Hublot loves Daniel Arsham!” The Swiss watchmaker’s desire to be first and distinctive continues with the appointment of American modern artist Daniel Arsham as a new Ambassador. New York-based artist Daniel Arsham works in various mediums, including fine art, architecture, performance, and video. During his career, he has regularly addressed the theme of time, most notably in his Linking Time series of works and his renowned Hourglass.

Daniel is having a big year this year. It has been 20 years since he received the Gelman Trust Fellowship Award and the famous GNMH Award, which first brought him to the attention of the art world. Subsequently, Daniel established himself as one of the industry’s most important and sought-after modern artists. He attended Cooper Union in New York and has shown in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and London. He has worked with fashion designer Hedi Slimane, Dior artistic director Kim Jones, Porsche, and Pokémon. His work has been defined as “mythical modern archeology,” in which he takes recognizable shapes and erodes or modifies them.

The Hublot X Daniel Arsham Sundial

Daniel will unveil a temporary 20-meter sundial in the snow in the Swiss ski resort of Zermatt, with the Matterhorn as a majestic backdrop, the most recognizable mountain in the Swiss Alps. Light & Time is an ephemeral work that combines the origins of timekeeping with the skill of land art. The working outdoor timepiece is based on the shadows produced by the quartz crystal-shaped obelisk. The shadow formed by the center pointer indicates the time in the raked snow as the sun travels throughout the day. Arsham has combined form and function by making a sundial from natural elements in the Swiss Mountains. Snow and light are mixed in this way to connect his unique crystalized cosmos with the legacy and history of Hublot’s Swiss watchmaking art. The sundial will use recognizable signals, such as the iconic screws that keep the Big Bang’s bezel in place, echoing Hublot’s design language. The project will also have a unique feature: it will only be viewable from the top of the mountain. Watch, and art fans will need to buy a lift card to view it, but what a view it is!

And Daniel is thrilled with the collaboration, “I’ve been watching Hublot and the projects it has supported in the contemporary art space with great interest for many years, and admired its audacious approach to watchmaking, design and craft. The Art of Fusion remains one of the smartest projects in watchmaking. I love how Hublot crafts ideas, influences and materials together to create unique, defining forms. It is of course a special moment joining the Hublot Family and I’m super curious to execute the Hublot x Daniel Arsham sundial project in Zermatt. Physically, the temporary installation will capture something of how fleeting time can feel, but it will also be lasting, creating a memory that transcends the passing of the seconds, minutes, hours and days in all those who make the journey up the mountain to see it.”

Hublot and Zermatt

Zermatt was an obvious choice for exploring the partnership with Daniel. It’s Hublot country! The wood-paneled, chalet-style Hublot Boutique Zermatt sets the tone, and the resort is adorned with Hublot logos and timepieces. The Hublot-Express high-speed chairlift takes visitors 954 meters up the mountain to the summit. Since 2017, Hublot has released four limited-edition timepieces commemorating the enduring friendship between Hublot and Zermatt.