Level 3 in the sub-basement of the Akademie der Künste am Pariser Platz in Berlin consists of a large, empty, not quite rectangular space that is 3 levels high, so that from the galleries on the uppermost level, one can look down and into the space. There, in an area closed to the public, an »untouchable« floor work is installed.
Labyrinth (Meikyu 2) picks up on the architectonic situation: the public can look down at the work from the galleries and follow the acoustic patterns that arise as sounds move over a grid of loudspeakers and, as in a labyrinth, seek the path to an exit. Referencing the straight lines and still in-the-rough quality of the concrete architecture, 60 loudspeakers lie on the floor in a strict geometric grid with 10 rows of 6 boxes each. The floor itself is spread with a black carpet under which the cables disappear. On each loudspeaker lies a small fluorescent tube, each one at a different angle. These rods illuminate the loudspeaker cones, but not the floor, which creates the effect that the floor »disappears« and the observer sees only diagonally-crossed loudspeaker circles. The light is static, while selected sounds move over the grid and sound out the space. These movements correspond to inverted pictures — one sees, so to speak, with the ears, while the eyes perceive the grid's resolution, as with printed images.
The strong contrast in brightness between the black floor and the lamps creates an impression of infinite depth of space, in which sounds seem to float through space. The heaviness of concrete, the technology of the sound apparatus and lamps contrast with a sought-after sense of lightness — they all lose their actual-technical background and become playful elements.