The luminal tunnel of Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at JFK International Airport was always the perfect symbolic experience of the future. With its plunging vanishing point and soaring roofline, Saarinen's theatrical passage embodied, if not created, Utopian ideals of transcendence and transportation in travel. spectra [for Terminal 5, JFK] is Ryoji Ikeda's stunning site-specific installation commissioned for the tunnel as part of Terminal 5, an exhibition curated by Rachel K. Ward. While spectra appeals to ideals similar to Saarinen's, it employs entirely distinct strategies that generate singular phenomena and renew our optimism for the future. Describing spectra, Ryoji Ikeda says "This installation offers visitors a special phenomenon, which is nearly invisible due to its intense brightness and inaudible due to its ultra-frequencies. Visitors can barely recognise the dimensions of the space, as if they were blind in a whiteout state. As they pass through the corridor, subtle oscillation patterns occur around their ears, caused by their own movements interfering with the sounds." The sound is subtle and minimal, yet the experience of the sound in the installation is active and dynamic. Only through the public's physical engagement in the sound space can the real character of the work be perceived.

64 powerful lighting devices are projected vertically up into the sky. The sculpture of light can be seen from all points in the city, its illumination changing constantly as clouds pass by. As visitors approach, they will receive colour information into his/her eyes instantly and intensely; due to its intense brightness, the installation will become almost invisible.

At the base of the sculpture, visitors can walk through the grid of light, which is filled with sinewaves. These waves are ultra-pure, forming invisible sound patterns whose source is indecipherable by the ear. The emitted sinewaves interfere with one another as visitors walk through the grid, causing subtle oscillations around the ears of each individual. A musical score is thus created for each person as they move through the space, creating an entirely unique and personal experience.

The Paris night sky is illuminated with blinding white light beamed vertically from scores of highly powered architectural lamps; spectra [paris] is a major new work by international artist Ryoji Ikeda, commissioned for Nuit Blanche, the city’s annual white night contemporary arts festival. The lighting is accompanied by a sound composition. As visitors move through the field of light they each experience a unique symphony of ultra pure sine sound waves. Situated on a plaza next to the tallest skyscraper in France, Ikeda’s startling twelve-hour transformation of Paris is one of the key events for Nuit Blanche.

spectra [paris] follows spectra [amsterdam], Ikeda’s acclaimed commission for DREAM AMSTERDAM 2008, his first large-scale project for a public space in which he created sculptural interventions using intense white light at found locations across the city.

spectra [amsterdam] is artist and composer Ryoji Ikeda’s commission for Dream Amsterdam 2008; his first project for a public space and his first large-scale work pushing the creative possibilities of light to its utmost extremes. Selected architectural features in industrial, civic and open public spaces emanate blinding white light for several hours every evening, in an unearthly, unforgettable experience.

The installation relies on the intersection of sound and architecture and continues Ikeda's interest in phenomena - be they light, tone or sound - and how they materialise and manifest themselves in the world. The piece is built as a narrow, ceiling-covered corridor, allowing only one visitor to enter at a time. In the corridor space, red laser lights mark out the architectural construction of the otherwise darkened space and divide it into sections. Along the length of the space, speakers and strobe lights are mounted in the ceiling. The flashing strobe lights and high frequency sounds are synchronised and continuously change the experience of the space. Aiming at purity and simplicity in the sound, Ikeda deploys high frequency sine waves, only to subject them to his exploration of how pure tone and sound are distorted by the resonance and reflective qualities of a given architectural setting and the presence and movement of the public. Visitors can hardly recognise the dimensions of the space, which is almost invisible due to its intense darkness/brightness and inaudible due to its ultra-frequencies. However, as they pass through the corridor, subtle oscillation patterns occur around their ears, caused by their own movements interfering with the sounds. The sound itself may be subtle and minimal, but the experience of the sound in the installation is active and dynamic. It is only through the public's physical engagement in the sound space that the real character of the work can be perceived.