In his first solo exhibition in the UK, Ryoichi Kurokawa presents unfold, an ambitious new commission at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool, which explores the birth of stars.
For unfold, Kurokawa has used a combination of surround sound and data representation techniques to recreate and reimagine the collisions of energy and formations of matter that create stars and star clusters. The work, which will be displayed in several spaces at FACT, takes the form of a large scale immersive audiovisual environment, which presents a three dimensional representation of molecular dust clouds light years away, combined with interpretations of how star clusters form within the cloud until the birth of sun-like stars.
The exhibition is the result of an extensive period of collaborative research between Kurokawa and Vincent Minier, an astrophysicist at the Research Institute into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe (CEA Irfu - Paris-Saclay). CEA Irfu have given the artist access to data collected from interstellar clouds, which Kurokawa has brought to life in an artistic - yet scientifically accurate - representation. The project is a ground-breaking cross-disciplinary collaboration between artist and scientists, which promises to open up both new discussions and new collaborative possibilities in future.
The project is co-commissioned by FACT in collaboration with Stereolux and University of Salford Art Collection, with the support of CEA Irfu – Paris Saclay, Arcadi and DICRéAM, and has been produced in part thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign organised by FACT in 2015. Sedition has offered digital editions of Kurokawa’s syn_ collection as a reward to support the campaign. For the exhibition, Sedition also releases a brand new series of five audiovisual works from Kurokawa’s Sirens series in collaboration with sound artist Novi_sad. The new collection will launch on Sedition on 10 March 2016.
Ryoichi Kurokawa presents unfold at FACT, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ, UK, from 11 March - 12 June 2016. The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of events including a talk with Ryoichi Kurokawa and Vincent Minier on 12 March 2016.
