Ryoji Ikeda: bending art / science

View our world through a different resolution at Carriageworks this July.

“My work is created by reducing sound, light and the world into sine waves, pixels and data… so that the world can be viewed once more at a different resolution,” Ryoji Ikeda says. He doesn’t really do interviews.

The elusive Japanese electronic composer and visual artist prefers to let his work speak for itself, whatever that means for you.

We’re fortunate to be able to ponder this in a theatrical context within 172.8 square metres of exhibition space inside Carriageworks. His first work titled the planck universe [micro] explores the building blocks of matter and is a representation of nature that is infinitesimally small, brought to human scale by enlarging it by a measure of 10-35m.

The second installation, the planck universe [macro], features an immense wall projection over 10 metres tall, that seeks to depict nature, scanned from human scale to the cosmological scale beyond our observable universe. The installation explores expressive new forms at the frontier of the visual arts and promises to immerse visitors.

BresicWhitney and Carriageworks are presenting the Australian premiere of this free exhibition, micro | macro, exploring the intersection of art and quantum physics.

It follows the success of Ryoji’s first two projects at Carriageworks with the new installations developed during a residency at Switzerland’s CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, and, as with many of his artworks, micro | macro explores the very materials that make up our universe.

As one of Japan’s leading electronic composers and visual artists, Ryoji Ikeda has gained a reputation as one of the few international artists working convincingly across both visual and sonic media. Ikeda started working with light as a medium in the 1990s and his work is characterised by mathematical precision. He elaborately orchestrates sound, visuals, materials, physical phenomena and mathematical notions into immersive live performances and installations.

Through the process of exploring the outer limits of our cosmos perceivable by humans as well as that which is knowable and measurable, Ryoji is attempting to bring an understanding of the universe, and our place within it.

The exhibition runs until July 29 at Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh.

What to read next?

Suburb records, shifting sentiment: The Month in Sydney property.
Suburb records, shifting sentiment: The Month in Sydney property.
4th Mar 2024 - Community
Man about house: In conversation with architect Ben Mitchell
Man about house: In conversation with architect Ben Mitchell
16th Feb 2024 - Community
A strong start for Sydney property.
A strong start for Sydney property.
2nd Feb 2024 - Community
Undercurrent of stability amidst tides of caution
Undercurrent of stability amidst tides of caution
8th Dec 2023 - Community