Mariko Mori

This week, we’re talking about Mariko Mori. She is a contemporary Japanese photographer and videographer. Her work reflects the meditative feel of Japan Society and ambitiously portrays “the birth of the life force, the present-day rupture of humankind from nature, and the potential for the reemergence of creative energy.”

Make sure to check out her Rebirth exhibition through Jan. 12 at Japan Society, 333 East 47th St.

The show features some 35 items in all, including sculptures, works on paper, photographs, video and sound pieces. Mori leads off the first section by wedding an artifact from Japan’s prehistoric Jomon period—an intricate clay pot—with a collection of Lucite “stones” colored by LEDs; picture a sound-and-light show at Stonehenge, emanating from within the monuments themselves. More effectively, Mori’s installation White Holeinvites viewers to crawl inside its darkened interior (a womblike rotunda) and commune with a circular fixture hovering above. It appears for all the world like a UFO ready to beam you aboard, or maybe a moonlit cloud, glowing against a blackened sky. Somehow, it’s no surprise to learn that the artist created the work in collaboration with an astrophysicist. -Barbara Pollack

Also, you can check out more of her recent work here.