Visitors walk under large mesh sculptures, strong ropes woven into a map of pentagons overhead, occasional mirrors reflecting the movements of the people below: this is Argentinean artist Tomás Saraceno's immersive exhibition Stillness in Motion-Cloud Cities, shown last year at SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). Another of Saraceno's projects is the Aerocene, an environmental transport project involving hot-air balloons. Aerocene rejects the use of fossil fuels, batteries, or hydrogen to cause waste, relying solely on the sun's thermal energy to float giant balloons in the air. Stillness in Motion- Cloud Cities similarly rejects the limitations of gravity, an imagined floating city in the post-fossil fuel era strung together like spider webs, a human neural network, or geometric bubbles suspended in the air.
Tomás Saraceno's background in architecture has always informed his work, which exists at the creative intersection of scientific theory, fine art, and architectural form. In the past he attended NASA's International Space Studies program. He was recently invited to put on a show at the Shanghai Fosun Art Center, his first exhibition in China. In addition to Cloud Cities and Aerocene, the show will also feature Saraceno's works Solar Bell and 3D Spider Web Scan. Fans in Taiwan also got to experience a glimpse of Saraceno's work at CTBC Financial Park, where Saraceno exhibited "Cloud City: HAT P-12" last August, a work that is similar to Stillness in Motion-Cloud Cities.
Saraceno's execution of scientific theory in his work Solar Bell was influenced by Alexander Graham Bell's aircraft model. The artist combined lightweight carbon fiber frames, solar panels, and wind technology to create the giant triangular kite, a floating architectural masterpiece.
Tomás Saraceno is currently 45 year old, living and working in Berlin, Germany. His creations often challenge traditional notions of space, time, gravity, and perceptions; he brings natural environments and experiments directly to his audience. Whether is through microcosms such as in his 3D Spider Web Scan, or through the cosmic macrocosm like in Cloud Cities, he directs his viewers to imagine a future society.
Tomás Saraceno: Aerographies
Date: March 25, 2018 - June 3, 2018
Venue: Fosun Foundation Shanghai
Figure 1: Solar Bell, Tomás Saraceno. "Solar Bell", 2013. Installation View © Photography by Studio Tomás Saraceno
Figure 2 left top: STILLNESS IN MOTION — CLOUD CITIES
Tomás Saraceno. “Stillness in Motion – Cloud Cities”, 2016. Installation View
© Photography by Studio Tomás Saraceno
Figure 2 right top: Fosun Foundation Shanghai © Fosun Foundation Shanghai
Figure 2 left bottom: Tomas Saraceno © Alfred Weidinger, 2015
Figure 2 right bottom: 3D SPIDER WEB SCAN © Photography by Studio Tomás Saraceno
