Hayato Mizutani „Weiße Leere“ [White Void]

In the context of an open artistic competition regarding the creation of an art installation in the Castle Chapel of the Museum of Modern Art Carinthia in 2026, the concept by Hayato Mizutani was declared the winning project. Born in Japan in 1985, the artist prevailed in a multi-stage selection procedure against 123 co-competitors. Hayato Mizutani graduated in art from the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. Before this, he studied architecture at the Tokyo University of Science and at the University of Liechtenstein. He has been living and working in Munich since 2019. The starting point of the project ‘Weiße Void is the question of how, through an artistic intervention, a dialogue with the specific qualities of the Castle Chapel can unfold. Placed at the centre of the chapel is a completely white, spheroid body, a big balloon with a diameter of 5.2 metres. The material is light, smooth, and almost non-material. Notwithstanding the size, the Castle Chapel can be walked in freely. Visitors are able to circle the balloon, appreciate it from different angles and experience its presence in the room. Simultaneously, the almost floating ball engages in a relationship with the chapel’s wall paintings, in particular with the depiction of the Holy Trinity, which, too, features a white spheroid body. This makes the painted symbol transform into a real-life object. What is also echoed is the Japanese concept of Ma, a philosophical-aesthetical approach describing the empty space, the in-between, or silence. Emptiness is understood as an intentional gap, opening, or pause, as a consciously placed space in between or time in between. Voluminous yet restrained in its form and colour, this installation therefore directs our attention to the Castle Chapel’s historical, spiritual and material structure, initiating a quiet yet at the same time precise examination of the interaction of architecture, light, and perception. The minimalistic work unfolds as a poetic resonance with the site’s atmosphere and history, purposely foregoing any dominance; instead, it seeks a moment of concentration.