this maze of screams and whispers is as unsettling as it is arousing

rafael de cardenas, visionaire, and sahra motalebi believe mazes to be ‘a seductive species of architecture’ — an opinion that glistens and pounds in their latest collaboration, AMAZE. if architecture is sexy, then mazes — intimate, disorienting labyrinths — are definitely an acquired fetish. add sahra motalebi’s stimulating sounds to the already-hypnotizing space and you get a truly hair-raising experience, open from april 10 to june 10, at the gallery at cadillac house.

all images courtesy of plamen petkov

those standing just outside of the devoid maze may be lulled in by low-pitched drone sounds, whirling against a metal veil. the sounds are of sahra motalebi’s vocal-only sound score, which continues to evolve as the environment becomes less and less familiar.

selfie culture is called to question; narcissism in all of its beauty and insecurity is represented by a hall of mirrors, lovely daffodils, and hysterical laughter. then, at the end of the hall, the space opens up.

strangely, the less suffocating, much larger space feels heavier than the last. stark black-and-white-zig-zags pattern-around viciously, in perfect tune with the loud shrieking overhead, the masochistic score of sahra motablebi

from april 10 to june 10, these hypnotic rooms are fully traversable to those allured. saturated windows, whispers, shrieks, echoes, and over-stimulation await rafael de cardenas and sahra motablebi’s chilling experience, at the gallery at cadillac house, 330 hudson street, NYC. oh — and for a video of RDC standing willingly inside AMAZE, check out visionaire’s instagram @visionaireworld.