Starting March 7, the High Museum of Art is presenting an exhibition of work by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda, including the U.S. debut of “data-verse,” a trilogy of monumental, immersive light and sound installations that represents more than two decades of research by the artist and reflects upon the progressive digitalization of an integrated global society. On view from March 7 to Aug. 10, “Ryoji Ikeda: data-verse” will also premiere new site-specific work alongside existing works including “data gram,” a series of 18 monitors that take apart, analyze and recombine information Ikeda sourced for his trilogy.
Ikeda (born Gifu, Japan, 1966; active Paris and Kyoto) is one of the world’s leading composers and media artists, whose work Artnet describes as “visceral, intellectual and awe-inspiring.” His immersive video projections, which will be presented floor-to-ceiling onto the walls of the museum’s largest exhibition space, feature visualizations of data extracted from mathematical theories and the study of quantum physics. His more recent work, including “data-verse” (2019-2020, commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary), incorporates open-source imagery from institutions such as NASA, CERN and the Human Genome Project.
Ikeda produced “data-verse” in three “chapters,” transforming open-sourced data sets through self-written programs to create visual output, which he then synchronized and composed in arrangement with an electronic score. Together, the music, video projections and the museum’s architecture will become a dynamically balanced, self-contained whole. Ikeda’s work immerses the audience in a seemingly endless flow of data and explores the macroscopic depths of the universe and our relationship to it.
“This exhibition will be an experience unlike any we’ve offered before,” said the High’s Director Rand Suffolk. “The mesmerizing, almost hypnotic, installations underscore the ever-changing, technologically manipulated nature of our world and how that can profoundly affect lives. We’re honored to be the first museum in the country to present Ikeda’s thought-provoking work.”
“Ryoji Ikeda’s decades-long exploration of data, from sequences of alphanumeric symbols to collections of images of macro- and microcosms, is more relevant than ever, when data-driven decisions are precipitously changing the way people relate to the world,” said Michael Rooks, the High’s Wieland Family senior curator of modern and contemporary art. “His work across sonic and visual platforms will invite our audiences to rethink conventional relationships between sound and image in our tech-saturated lives.”
On view from March 7 – August 10, 2025. Get details and purchase tickets here.
“Ryoji Ikeda: data-verse” will be presented in the Cousins Family Special Exhibition Galleries on the Second Level of the High’s Wieland Pavilion.
Ryoji Ikeda is represented by Almine Rech.
