ryoji ikeda’s largest european show to be held at london's 180 the strand next month

a massive ryoji ikeda exhibition is set to open this november in london’s 180 studios. presented by the vinyl factor and fact, in collaboration with audemars piguet contemporary, the show will feature the largest collection of the artist’s work in europe to date, including the world premiere of six never-before-seen pieces.

imagined as a subterranean exploration of sound and light, the ryoji ikeda show invites visitors to immerse themselves in highly-charged dynamic digital universes. the works follow the artist’s examination of sound and light turned into data and the way we can, not only visualize it, but also listen to it. in fact, ikeda engages with frequencies and scales that are uncomfortable for the human ear and mind to comprehend, visualizing sounds, and rendering them through numerical systems and digital 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. data-verse 1 first premiered at la biennale de venezia in may 2019 (see more on designboom here), followed by data-verse 2 which was unveiled in tokyo midtown in october 2019. data-verse 3 will be premiered in london in a 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 center of the exhibition and will allow viewers a moment of reflection on the vast data universe in which we live.

the show will also include a new, site-specific version of test pattern and the UK premieres of: point of no return; spectra III; and A (continuum). the exhibition is also the first show by a solo artist to take over multiple floors at 180 studios, a space that has been adapted specifically for ikeda’s work.

project info:

name: ryoji ikeda immersive audiovisual exhibition
presented by: vinyl factory and fact
in collaboration with: audemars piguet contemporary
location: 180 the strand, london
opening times: 12 november 2020 – 28 february 2021
address: 180 studios, 180 the strand, london, wc2r 1ea