Fujiko Nakaya fills the stock market with a cloud of vapor
Fujiko Nakaya transforms its Rotunda Commerce Exchange – Pinault Collection in a changing vapor landscape with Cloud #07156, a site-specific fog sculpture presented as part of report Clair-obscur. THE installation occupies the circular heart of the museum under the monumental dome and enters into a direct dialogue with the intervention of the concrete cylinder designed by Tadao Ando.
Composed entirely of tiny water droplets, the dense white cloud constantly changes shape in response to air currents, ventilation systems and visitors moving through the space. The work dissolves and reappears throughout the day, obscuring architectural views while revealing otherwise invisible atmospheric conditions. For Nakaya, fog has the unique ability to make empty space visible, exposing the circulation of air and the relationships between bodies, architecture and environment.
all images © designboom
a conversation between fog and architecture by tadao ando
The installation extends the Japanese artist’s decades-long exploration of fog as a sculptural medium. Fujiko Nakaya recreates natural phenomena through technology. Using high-pressure pumps and specially designed nozzles, the water is sprayed into droplets only twenty to thirty microns in diameter, matching the composition of natural fog. Nakaya has often described these works as conversations with natural forces, recognizing that wind, humidity, temperature and human presence ultimately determine the form each sculpture takes.
Created especially for Paris museumCloud #07156 takes its title from the weather station closest to the Bourse de Commerce, linking the artificial cloud inside the building to the atmospheric conditions unfolding over the city. The work also resonates with the Japanese concept of ma, which is understood as a space or relational space between people and things. Through the fog, the artist transforms the void into a tangible presence, an active meeting ground rather than a void.
Cloud #07156 unfolds under the historic dome of the Bourse de Commerce
within the clair-obscur exposure
Nakaya’s installation serves as a centerpiece in Clair-obscur, curated by Emma Lavigne with the participation of art and media historian Anne-Marie Duguet. The work is closely related to the Fog section of the exhibition, where the artists investigate visibility, disappearance and atmospheric perception. Works by Trisha Donnelly, Bruce Conner, Frank Bowling and Wolfgang Tillmans similarly explore ambiguity, mirage and the unstable boundaries between presence and absence.
The encounter between Nakaya’s ephemeral cloud and Tadao Ando’s monumental architecture highlights a shared interest in time, nature and perception. While Ando’s concrete cylinder frames and partially hides the historic rotunda, the fog sculpture introduces an ever-changing climatic layer that further alters the visitor experience of the space.
the fog sculpture obscures and reveals the geometry of the circular Rotunda of Ando
tiny drops of water transform the atmosphere of the museum into a tangible sculptural medium
sunlight, architecture and steam interact throughout the day
