November 22, 2014–March 29, 2015
Opening: November 21, 6:30pm
HeK
Haus der elektronischen Künste Basel
House of Electronic Arts Basel
Freilager-Platz 9
4142 Münchenstein / Basel
Switzerland
T +41 61 331 58 40
From 21 to 23 November 2014, HeK (House of Electronic Arts Basel) celebrates the inauguration of its new venue with the first solo exhibition in Switzerland by Japanese artist and musician Ryoji Ikeda.
Ryoji Ikeda is famous for his large-scale installations and audiovisual performances, in which he focuses on data and datascapes as the invisible principle and driving force behind information space. By the day of the opening, Ikeda will have created two new site-specific pieces, especially for HeK’s new exhibition space. He will also present examples of various older series, which range from immersive installations to sculptural work.
Ryoji Ikeda’s artistic strategy and combinatorial systems are deeply rooted in mathematic principles. Aesthetic qualities of mathematics are used in their purest form, creating immersive spaces that are based on barcodes or 0/1 binaries to generate an output of visual and sound patterns. Ikeda evokes the universal principle of the electronic world by breaking it down into pure forms of code. By turning endless flows of data into a poetic environment, Ikeda creates immersive datascapes on an overwhelming scale, which confront the viewer with a sensory overload of information and visual and audio input and thus challenge her or his perception. Ikeda’s use of images and sound in immersive installations creates in the viewer an acute consciousness of the here and now.
Accompanying program
Free guided tours every Thursday and Sunday
Concert
Friday, February 20, 2015
supercodex: live set by Ryoji Ikeda
During his solo exhibition at HeK (House of Electronic Arts), Ryoji Ikeda will also perform live: the audiovisual show supercodex is based on his latest eponymous album.
The artist in conversation
Saturday, February 21, 2015
“Time and Time Again—The Substance of Thought”
Ryoji Ikeda in conversation with Chus Martinez, curator and Head of the Institute of Art at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel
Program
HeK opening
November 21–23
The opening of the Ryoji Ikeda exhibition is accompanied by the inauguration of HeK’s new building on Freilager-Platz in Basel. From 21 to 23 November, HeK celebrates this event with concerts, workshops, performances and more.
Free guided tours
Saturday November 22, 2:30pm, 6:30pm & 8pm
Sunday November 23, 3pm
Concert program
Friday November 21, 10pm–4am
DJ Sassy J (CH)
DJ Herva (IT)
Stellar OM Source (BE)
Hieroglyphic Being (US)
Saturday November 22, 10pm–4am
Rainer Veil (UK)
patten (UK)
Lucy Railton & Russell Haswell (UK)
One Circle (IT)
Thug Entrancer (US)
Performance
REMOTEWORDS
Saturday November 22, 2pm
REMOTEWORDS by Achim Mohné & Uta Kopp spreads its messages on rooftops that can only be viewed from above, but that become visible all over the world as soon as Google Earth updates its satellite images. The roof of HeK’s new building, too, has been inscribed with a message. At the opening, a drone will fly over the venue and make the message visible via live stream.
Workshops
Yeastograms
Saturday & Sunday November 22 & 23, 10am–1pm
Yeastograms are living images made of yeast cultures produced by photographic processes. Participants in the two-day workshop with Pavillion_35 learn how to use this living organism for artistic purposes.
Line-Follower Robots
Saturday November 22, 2–6pm
Sunday November 23, 2–6pm
Artist Karl Heinz Jeron transforms toys into robots. Participants in the workshop build small, robotic animals that are capable of following a line when driven by remote sensor.
For more information, visit hek.ch.
Connect with HeK on Facebook and Twitter.
Media contact
Lukas Zitzer: T +41 61 331 58 41 / lukas.zitzer [at] hek.ch
