Internationally Celebrated Artist Debuts LED Cube at Gagosian

Gagosian
Photo: Tom Powell Imaging, Courtesy Gagosian.

The contemporary art gallery Gagosian is hosting a new exhibition by Swiss visual artist Urs Fischer, described as one of the most significant contemporary artists working today. The presentation, titled Denominator, opened September 9 at the gallery’s West 24th Street location in New York and will run through October 15.

Denominator is a twelve-foot cube constructed from LED screens that display a sequence of fragments from international television commercials in a shifting composition that spans the history of the medium,” according to a Gagosian news release. “Through the use of AI algorithms, the commercials have been deconstructed into individual shots, which are then grouped by theme or color and displayed in layered patterns and choreographed sequences.”

Denominator is one installation in a three-part series by Fischer that, combined, “form a subjective encyclopedic composition that tells the story of humanity through the artifacts it leaves behind.”

The art installation is comprised of a five-sided LED cube built from SNA Displays’ BOLD™ Interior product series. The cube’s screens employ 2.5-milimeter pixel spacing and are mounted to a free-standing steel frame. The structure was custom-designed and precisely installed to minimize seams.

Each face, including the cube’s top cap, is 11-feet-10-inches-square, and the digital art piece processes approximately 10.4 million pixels in total.

Gagosian
Photo: Tom Powell Imaging, Courtesy Gagosian.

“It’s hard to find a more dynamic art form than digital art, and we’re happy to add Denominator to a growing list of LED-based art installations,” said Jason Helton, executive vice president at SNA Displays. “Pieces like this not only show the power and beauty of the digital canvas but also present unique and interesting design challenges. For example, the dimensions on Denominator’s free-standing steel structure were critical because the artist wanted the cube to ‘float’ one inch above the exhibit floor. Another interesting challenge was laying the subframe for the top of the cube on its back, a first for the design and installation teams.”

Other digital art exhibits featuring LED display technology built by SNA Displays include the As We Are LED head sculpture at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Refik Anadol’s digital art pieces at Salesforce East in San Francisco and the AT&T Discovery District in Dallas, and JR’s The Chronicles of San Francisco at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Digital Dreams provided installation services for the art piece.

—Press Release