Ryoji Ikeda is well worth hearing

Ryoji Ikeda’s “Datatron” renders the digital visible

Ryoji Ikeda might not be on your radar, but he probably should be. Born in Japan, the artist and composer now lives in Paris, where he crafts the haunting, rhythmic, sometimes ear-splitting sculptural sonic masterpieces that have made him an icon in the sound art and experimental music scenes, with a healthy crossover into the world of high-brow visual arts. His pieces combine raw sounds, sine waves, white noise and electronic bleeps, often alongside high-tech visual renderings and light sculptures, in order to offer perspective on the ongoing digitization of our world.

This exhibit, curated by John Zeppetelli, is the first major survey and retrospective of the artist in North America, running here and in Toronto. It includes elements from Ikeda’s ongoing project, “datamatics,” which employs video, sculpture, new media and, of course, sound to explore how data shapes our understanding of the world around us. It deploys a system for converting any information into binary codes and barcodes, revealing how easily material life slides into digitization.

A second space, in DHC/ART’s main gallery, is dedicated to “systematics,” a display of more visual materials including light boxes, sculpture, and other objects that attempt to portray or explain data systems.

Ikeda is interested in giving form to immateriality, which explains his ongoing investment in both sound and data — both are omnipresent, invisible and immaterial, and both are all too frequently underrepresented in contemporary art. The show thinks big: large projection screens show grid systems to accompany the soundtrack, which vacillates between sonic minimalism and sheer, shrill noise. It is eminently immersive, and definitely a must-see and must-hear experience. ■

Ryoji Ikeda runs through to November 18 at DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art.