Data-Verse

Transforming raw data into sensory experience, Ryoji Ikeda reveals the hidden architectures of reality—where data becomes not just substance, but sensation. His work renders the abstract languages of science and computation as immersive environments of light and sound, offering a heightened encounter with the codes that structure life and the universe.

In Dataverse and the broader Datamatics project, Ikeda draws from vast scientific datasets: NASA’s astronomical observations, the genomic blueprints of the Human Genome Project, molecular protein structures, quantum physics, and cosmological constants. This raw material—often incomprehensible in its original form—is processed through custom-written algorithms and reconfigured into audiovisual compositions of stunning clarity and intensity.

What results is not representation, but transformation. DNA sequences become flickering grids of light. Galactic coordinates pulse in rhythmic sound. Patterns buried in pure data emerge as immersive sensory phenomena. These installations suggest that data is not merely informational—it is ontological. It shapes how we perceive, construct, and relate to the world.

Through Ikeda’s work, data becomes a language of scale and precision, but also of awe. He invites us into a coded sublime—a space where science, mathematics, and aesthetics converge into a new kind of sensory logic for understanding the world.

Media Details

'Data-Verse' is on view at High Museum of Art in Atlanta, USA, through March 7th to August 10th, 2025

https://high.org/exhibition/ryoji-ikeda/