LO – 09

The piece I looked at was Ryoji Ikeda’s 2013 work titled Test Pattern, originally posted by Maggie. The piece is a large-scale sound and light installation. It features huge flashing barcodes being projected onto the floor (and, in some versions, walls) of a large open space accompanied by loud rhythmic sounds. 

In the post Maggie goes into detail about the physical setup of the space and the code behind it. To add to this, I will say this piece initially caught my attention because of the scale. I am always drawn to huge installations like this, especially one’s as sensorily intense. I also love the abstract and interpretable quality of the piece. Ikeda is purposely vague about the meaning behind the work, stating, “I don’t really want to speak about any concepts. Because there are no concepts.”