DIVIDED: SpY explores body, light, and scale through a monumental sphere in Xi’an.
DIVIDED is part of SpY’s ongoing research into the relationship between body, space, and perception, exploring how monumental scale and light transform the viewer’s experience and reconfigure the urban environment.
The work takes the form of a large luminous sphere of intense red light, fragmented into two identical halves and separated from one another. Each hemisphere is contained within a metal structure built from industrial scaffolding, similar to that commonly used in construction, which here is revealed as an essential component of the work’s visual and conceptual language. This framework not only supports the spherical forms but also emphasizes the tension between cubic and spherical geometries, functioning as a conceptual cage that articulates a condition of formal containment.
The installation acts as an active agent within the space, capable of altering the perception of its surroundings and establishing an immediate, physical relationship with the viewer’s body. Its monumental scale imposes a presence that is experienced before it is fully understood, generating a sense of awe and attraction that intensifies as the public approaches.
DIVIDED is fully activated through the audience’s actions. Visitors walk through the space between the two halves, entering a corridor of light that completely envelops them. In this passage, the viewer ceases to be an external observer and becomes an integrated element of the work, positioned literally at the point of fracture of the sphere.
The journey between the two halves transforms the relationship between form and body, shifting the experience toward the interior of the installation. In this movement, the viewer inhabits a suspended space of light where the tension between fragmentation and unity is perceived in a direct, physical, and emotional way.
Proximity to the curved surfaces, the chromatic intensity, and the radiant light alter the perception of space, blurring references of scale and distance. The human body thus becomes a measure, confronted with a form that, although fragmented, retains a monumental and imposing presence.
While SpY has explored in previous installations the ability of large-scale luminous forms to activate their surroundings and generate an immediate bodily relationship
with the viewer, in DIVIDED the interaction shifts inward, inviting the public to move through the work and to experience from within the tension between separation and union.
The red light—recurrent in SpY’s recent work—acts as an emotional and enveloping element, transforming the space into a suspended atmosphere. The work does not merely occupy a site; it redefines it, turning it into an immersive experience in which perception, scale, and the body become the fundamental materials of the proposal.
DIVIDED is part of the “Earth” series, composed of “Earth,” “Divided,” and “Confronted,” a group of installations that reflect on fragmentation, conflict, and coexistence. Previously presented in cities such as Madrid, Athens, Riyadh, and Ghent, the series offers a symbolic reading of the contemporary world.
Organizer：Xian Mixc
Curator：Wavelength
