artist presents immersive blackhole at today art museum in beijing

artist and coder, cao yuxi, takes inspiration from the world’s largest natural spectacles in latest exhibit ORIENS, an audiovisual installation that throws the audience into an atom/blackhole beyond human perception. the piece is on show at beijing’s today art museum and uses av projections to transform the gallery into an immersive map of space.

the installation is on show at beijing’s today art museum

using a series of shifting shapes that move to a soundtrack of electronic beats, the audience is absorbed in an external dimensional ‘atom blackhole’. at 98 feet by 46 feet by 46 feet, the installation covers two sides of the wall as well as the floor, intending to create a passive interaction between the viewer and the piece as they stand in the centre of the lobby.

it uses av projections to mimic a black hole

‘a photo of a real black hole will soon be published… at the same time the United States have just experienced a spectacular total solar eclipse’, excites artist cao yuxi. ‘this historical timeline of stimuli inspires me.’ the installation delineates a history of human fascination with large public spaces, of both religious and cultural worship – the neolithic worship of stonehenge or the roman formation of the symbol ‘genius loci’ – and reimagines it with space research of the modern ages in mind.

yuxi is inspired by natural spectacles

the work’s title, which translates to ‘oriental pearl’, maintains a powerfully ambiguous meaning. yuxi defines this translation as an allusion to all spheres and their infinite forms.

the exhibit is an immersive audiovisual installation

‘there are many carriers of life and whether enormous or tiny, they manifest as a circle’, comments yuxi. ‘the earth, the moon, or a meteorite, they are all in the shape that is close to a sphere, the same as particles, molecules, atoms, and electrons. terms like circle, round, sphere, and globe connect to infinity and symbolize the core of what constitutes our existence.

strobe-type visuals and dramatic music engulfs viewers

the installation is titled ‘oriens’

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: kieron marchese | designboom