VIDA HOTEL DOWNTOWN | DUBAI, UAE
YASUAKI ONISHI

Japanese artist Yasuaki Onishi has been commissioned to create a site-specific installation during Dubai’s Art Week event in March. The project is a collaboration between Vida Downtown Dubai and The Mine, a contemporary art gallery showcasing work by emerging artists, as part of its #ARTINVIDA initiative.

Titled “Reverse Volume”, the installation will be sculpted for the hotel’s high-ceiling lobby area. The artwork itself is a monumental, mountain-like structure that appears to float in space and is created using rudimentary materials. Onishi uses plastic sheeting and black hot glue in a process he describes as “casting the invisible,” which involves dressing a plastic sheet over stacked cardboard boxes,which are then removed to leave only their impressions. This Onishi calls the process of “reversing” a sculpture, reflecting the nature of negative space.