Cloud #07156

In the Rotunda of La Bourse de Commerce, visitors wait, expectantly, in the middle of the empty space and around the rim. For a while, nothing. Then the hiss of the nozzles signals the rapid rise of billowing clouds emerging from floor vents. All ages flock to lose themselves in the fog. Squeals of delight and waving arms accompany the installation as visibility comes and goes. Few refuse the temptation to snap selfies of their face dissolving into opaque whiteness. As the fog descends, disembodied heads boggle around, mulling in slight astonishment. (It remains startling to see a person suddenly materialize right in front of you, even if you knew they were there before being swallowed by the fog only seconds prior.) Urges to play with the fog spread contagiously. Some try to stand half-in, half-out, while others seem lost as though in a dream.

Nakaya’s fog sculpture numbers correspond to the closest weather station. She calls them “negative sculptures,” molded by the atmosphere and carved by the wind or, in this instance, the movement of bodies and breath within a space. Daughter of the first physicist to fabricate artificial snowflakes (in 1936), Nakaya worked with engineer Thomas Mee and nature to create her first fog sculpure in 1970. Since then, her installations have traveled the world. Nakaya’s mantra: “No more art but public art.” – A. Street