Ryoji Ikeda Exhibition

Exhibition: Ryoji Ikeda
Location: 180 The Strand
Dates: Until 18 September 2021

In his largest show in Europe to date, Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda has staged a sensory assault course. Presented by The Vinyl Factory and Fact magazine in collaboration with Audemars Piguet Contemporary, these all-consuming, subterranean light and sonic installations explore the data that surrounds, informs and shapes our existence. Emerging from the industrial labyrinth that is 180 The Strand, it’s customary to feel like your senses have been through the wash a few times. But after Ikeda’s show, your eyes can hear, and your nose can see. Ikeda doesn’t politely request your attention, he gets inside your head and plays your eardrum like a snare. In brief, the whole experience might be comparable to watching sci-fi thriller Cube (1997) to a soundtrack by Crystal Castles while at the tail end of a bad trip. When you eventually emerge, there’s euphoria. Not just because you’ve seen good art – which you undoubtedly have – but because you’re alive