ART CITIES:London-Ryoji Ikeda
Ryoji Ikeda’s innovative work explores the essential characteristics of sound and light by means of mathematical precision and aesthetics. The artist engages with frequencies and scales difficult for the human ear and mind to comprehend, visualising sounds, and rendering the imperceptible through numerical systems and computer aesthetics. By orchestrating sounds, visuals, materials, physics, and mathematics, Ikeda goes beyond the conceptual to delve into extremes and infinites, testing the limits of human senses and digital technology.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: 180 The Strand Archive
The largest exhibition of Ryoji Ikeda’s work ever staged, including numerous world premieres in 180 Studios, London. A subterranean exploration of sound and light, the show takes viewers on a sensory journey through 180 Studios’ labyrinthine spaces. The 12 artworks include the world premiere of Ikeda’s “data-verse” trilogy – a towering, triple-screen immersive project commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary. The exhibition also features never-seen-before installations such as: “point of no return”, an intense audio-visualisation that creates a virtual experience akin to entering a black hole; “spectra III”, a tunnel of strobe lighting that made its premiere at the 2019 Venice Biennale; and “A (continuum)” – a sound installation comprising six colossal. Ikeda’s innovative work explores the essential characteristics of sound and light by means of mathematical precision and aesthetics. The artist engages with frequencies and scales difficult for the human ear and mind to comprehend, visualising sounds, and rendering the imperceptible through numerical systems and computer aesthetics. Among those artworks premiering is the “data-verse” trilogy – a large-scale immersive project commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary in 2015. The installation will feature all three variations, shown for the first time together at 180 Studios, creating a rare opportunity for audiences to see the works in harmony in a new environment that is uniquely able to take on and maximise the trilogy’s’ scale. “data-verse” marks the conclusive chapter in Ikeda’s data-driven audio-visual research and aesthetics that first began in the early 2000s. It visualises and sonifies the different dimensions co-existing in our world, from the microscopic, to the human, to the macroscopic. “data-verse 1” first premiered at the 58th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale de Venezia in May 2019, followed by “data-verse 3” which was unveiled in Tokyo Midtown in October 2019. “data-verse 1” is premiered in London in a mesmerising showing of the three chapters. The trilogy’s sublime medley of bright lights, visceral patterns charging at high frequencies, and constant yet calming acoustic will be positioned at the centre of the exhibition and will allow viewers an impactful moment of reflection on the vast data universe in which we live. The trilogy addresses the layered dimensions of our world, from the microscopic, to the human, to the macroscopic. Through Ikeda’s process, massive scientific data sets have been transcribed, converted, transformed, de/re/meta-constructed and orchestrated to visualise and sonify the different dimensions that co-exist in our world between the visible and the invisible. Each variation immerses visitors in the vast data universe in which we live, capturing hidden facets of nature and the vast scientific knowledge underpinning our existence. This large-scale data-driven trilogy is generated by extremely precise computer programming and features a minimalist electronic soundtrack, harmonised with Hollywood-standard, high-definition, 4K DCI video projections of scientific data onto a large screen. A new, site-specific version of “test pattern” is also making its global debut. “test pattern” is a system that converts any type of data (text, sounds, photos and movies) into barcode patterns and binary patterns of 0s and 1s. Through its application, the project aims to examine the relationship between critical points of device performance and the threshold of human perception. The exhibition also include UK premieres of other hypnotic Ikeda artworks including: “point of no return” – an intense audio-visualisation that creates a virtual experience akin to entering a black hole; “spectra III” – a tunnel of strobe lighting that made its premiere at the 2019 Venice Biennale and has been readapted to reflect the scale of the 180 Studios show; and “A (continuum)” – a sound installation comprising six colossal Meyer SB-1 speakers that will act as minimalist sculptures.
Photo: Ryoji Ikeda, exhibition view, 180 The Strand-London, 2021, Courtesy the artist and 180 The Strand
Info: 180 The Strand, Temple, London, United Kingdom, Duration: 20/5-18/9/2021, Days & Hours: Mon-Sun 10:00-18:00, www.180thestrand.com
