The Museum of Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil, Oct. 3 Dec. 6, 2015
Curitiba Biennial 2015
Installation by Yumi Kori
Sound by Bernhard Gal
Material: acrylic cylinder, led, steel, wood deck

Size: 30m X9mX12m

This project was made possible by Japan Foundation

The Museum of Oscar Niemeyer, MON is well known for its distinctive eye shape. When visitors look at the building, they may sense that the building is watching them through its big, glaring eye. However, the wall of the eye is actually made of glass and black cloth, so in reality, it is impossible to see through the glass, neither from the inside looking out or the outside peering in.
My installation intended to open up the eye, and to transform the space into one that has no boundaries, thereby extending the viewer’s sight to an infinite distance. I installed 13 sandblasted acrylic cylinders that included blue led light, which reflected the light so that it appeared to be double as if penetrating the wall. Moreover, I built glass walls on both ends of the space in order to amplify the number of light segments. Thus, the museum space was extended to a limitless world.
The blue light represented restless waves in the ocean, or the segments of time that stretch from past to future. I installed a meditative sound that included occasional ocean wave sounds and bell sounds that corresponded to the light installation so as to create a peculiar, yet spiritual zone in which the flow of time was suspended. There are two wood deck piers through which the visitors can enter and see the endless space, which continues in both directions. Haruka means “ far” in Japanese, I hoped the visitors would gain new insight that is beyond their own limitations.