Mariko Mori Wave UFO

The glass atrium of 590 Madison Avenue takes on an otherworldly atmosphere with the installation of Mariko Mori’s Wave UFO, a stunning sculptural object and participatory installation that epitomizes Mori’s ongoing exploration of the relationship between the individual and an interconnected cosmos.

Mori (b. 1967, Tokyo, Japan) fuses real-time computer graphics, brain wave technology, sound, and state-of-the-art architectural engineering to create a dynamic interactive experience. The connection between technology and spirituality is effected here through the use of specially designed computer programs and scientific equipment that monitor and visually interpret participants’ brain waves.

Drawing upon the Buddhist principle that all forms of life in the universe are interconnected, Wave UFO seamlessly unites actual individual physical experience with Mori’s singular vision of a cosmic dream world. Within the tranquil interior of the work, Mori sends participants, three at a time, on an aesthetic voyage that seeks to connect three individuals to each other and to the world at large.