kimsooja enlivens former cistern with 'weaving of the light' show

‘weaving of the light’ by kimsooja opens at the cisternerne

Every year, the Frederiksberg Museums commissions an artist to create a site-specific work for its Cisternerne exhibition space in Copenhagen. Dark and quiet, the 4,400 sqm former water reservoir reveals a cavernous ambiance: humidity nears 100%, daylight never sets, echoes dissipate for 17 seconds, and temperature fluctuates between 4 and 16 degrees.

In an extensive installation, South Korean artist Kimsooja transforms the space into a changing universe, where light breaks darkness with colorful brushstrokes on transparent canvases. Dubbed ‘Weaving of the light’, the work comprises refracting films mounted on panels, allowing light to pass through microscopic horizontal and vertical prisms. As a result, luminous beams split into all colors of the rainbow, dynamically weaving in and out of the underground colonnades.

image © Torben Eskerod

creating ever-evolving, abstract paintings

‘As you wander through the exhibition, the panels appear like abstract paintings that continuously change form. The visitors’ movements create fleeting silhouette effects, and reflections appear in the water mirror, combining light, body, and architecture in one choreographic movement. The light makes otherwise unseen details in the old water reservoir come to the fore, and new illusions of space arise as an extension of the brickwork, columns, and the rustic stalactite walls,’ writes Frederiksberg Museums (see more here).

image © Torben Eskerod

activating all senses through a poetic revival

The artist’s enveloping ‘Weaving of the light’ installation at the Cisternerne can activate all senses, bringing heightened awareness to visitors’ presence and surroundings as they explore the otherwordly universe unfolding before them. With minimal use of materials, Kimsooja embraces the space and encourages all who encounter her work to examine the qualities of the cavernous room and experience it in a new light, crossing all the colors of the rainbow to a new dimension.

Reflecting on the exhibition, Director of the Frederiksberg Museums, Astrid la Cour, comments: ‘Once the Cisterns were filled with clean drinking water for the whole city, today it is dark. A darkness that is opened every year by a new artist who fills it with meanings, stories, and poetry. Kimsooja understands the potential and inherent beauty of the Cisterns and has created a unique exhibition that allows the individual to sense the depth of darkness and the transforming power of light.‘

‘Weaving of the light’ by Kimsooja will run from March 26th to November 30th, 2023.

image © Torben Eskerod