A M枚bius strip is a surface with only one side, it is non-orientable and can be easily emulated by taking a strip of paper, twisting it once and attaching the two ends. If an ant was to walk the length of a Mobius paper strip, back to its starting point, it could cover the entire length of the paper on both sides without walking over a paper edge. These forms are at the heart of a new physics theory – 鈥渆kpyrotic鈥 or 鈥渃yclic鈥 cosmology – which hypothesises that the universe did not begin from one singular 鈥淏ig Bang.鈥 Instead, our cosmos contains continuously repeating cycles of evolution, parallel universes and the ever-expanding creation of new galaxies and planets.
Mariko Mori has been fascinated by M枚bius strips, and in Cyclicscape at , creates sculptures which play upon this idea of an infinite loop and our universe鈥檚 consequently ever-replenishing energies. Mori鈥檚 large-scale aluminium and stainless steel works are characteristically ethereal, and curving in on themselves, joining and looping, seem to have no beginning, middle, or end.
Additionally, Mori鈥檚 eight digital photo-paintings are based on drawings which Mori made in front of the ocean on the idyllic Okinawa Island, Japan. Looking up to the skies and imagining another, mocroscopic cosmos, the artist’s jagged circles, dots and dashes become particles and atoms darting across the image. With such diverse pieces, Cyclicscape makes visible Mori鈥檚 ongoing study of our universe 鈥 from the minutiae to the infinite, how it mirrors and reflects upon itself.
Mariko Mori: Cyclicscape, 21 March – 2 May, , 475 Tenth Avenue, New York NY 10018.
Credits
1. MARIKO MORI, Ekpyrotic String IV (Detail), 2014 fiberglass 17 3/4 x 9 1/2 x 17 inches (45 x 24 x 43.5 cm) edition of 5 with 2 APs 漏 Mariko Mori Courtesy: Sean Kelly, NY.
