In this room, you will commune with the distant past. In front of you is an artwork that is made with slabs of waveform fossils found in Eastern Europe. They formed during the Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago. These fossils capture an ephemeral moment that has been arrested in an eternal form. The mirror-finish stainless steel base on which the fossil slabs rest reflect the surrounding space. The structure seems to disappear, rendering the rippling fossils to look as if they are floating in midair. The space between the stainless steel base produces a void of infinite reflections. Fossils are objects of transformation, representing a different mode of transfiguration through time and space. Take a moment to consider how this object arrived here, a journey spanning millions of years accompanied by the transfer of energy and matter.

Welcome to a formal play of light and matter. In front of you is a sculptural arrangement of intricate objects. Move closer, and allow the objects to draw you into a more intangible physical dimension. The prism splits the sunlight coming into the gallery into a gradient of rainbow colors. This phenomenonturns light itself, fundamentally just electromagnetic waves, into a component of the artwork. Now shift your gaze to the center of the table. A Crookes radiometer converts electromagnetic waves into kinetic energy, spinning ceaselessly. On the table, observe the wet-plate collodion photographs supported by the mirror. They depict light transmitted from Iapetus, one of Saturn’s moons, and the surface of Mercury. They capture just a glimpse of the mysteries of the cosmos.

Now observe the plants at the corner of the table. Do you notice what makes them unique? They are air plants, which can survive without soil by drawing nutrients from the air. What substances must be hidden in the air all around us such that they can sustain life all by themselves?

Now step back and look at the array on the table: handmade, white gold tiles; a pink isometric grid; and glass micro-beads forming small dunes. The artist is inviting you to explore different kinds of spatial structures: geometric constructions, accumulated solid particles, or isometric perspectives like the pink grid. They seem to raise an implicit question: As we move through the universe, who are we in this grand cosmic order? Are we particles, matter, subjects, individuals, or something else entirely?

Look on the ground, scattered around are numerous sculptures created by the artist. They bear the shapes of hydrogen electron probability clouds. A hydrogen atom consists of a nucleus plus electrons typically equal in number to the nucleus’s protons. Observe carefully, and you’ll notice that each piece with a mirror finish has a twin in matte black. Imagine yourself seeing the sculptures at a sub-atomic level. Just like the pieces in front of you, these subatomic particles exist in phenomenological opposition: one reflects light, the other absorbs it. By the laws of quantum physics, they might be located far apart, yet they can still influence each other instantly. This phenomenon is known as quantum entanglement.

Now look up and observe the sculpture named Whew. This is one of the artist’s earliest works. Over time, the sculpture will slowly deflate and fall to the floor. Here the artist juxtaposes two ways to visualize the natural world. It may be impossible for us to observe molecules unassisted, but we can still feel our entanglement with the subatomic world.

The two pieces also structure another uncanny connection. Whew is from 2013, while the artworks on the ground are from 2023, the ten years that bookend the scope of the exhibition. Exploring related themes, the two works form a wormhole, connecting the artist’s past and present in an instant.

In this room, you will encounter the first two films of an infinite series that Wang began in 2017. In this series, each film stands alone, though all-together they also form a total work of art. Allow yourself some time to view these collage-like experimental films.

At the beginning of the first work, you will see an interplay between ancient pyramidal structures and modern radio telescopes. As the figure in the film opens her eyes, an apocalyptic fireball crashes down in Chelyabinsk, Russia. Focus on your body in relation to the events you see depicted. Perhaps you will feel a sense of human vulnerability, or perhaps a sense of the power of natural forces. In the second film, follow along with the guided meditation. When this guidance ends, a quote from the science fiction novel The Three-Body Problem appears on the screen: “Three days from now, between one and five in the morning, the entire universe will flicker for you.” You are then taken on a surreal journey through sublime landscapes. Observe the geometric structures in the film. How do they connect us to the cosmos?

Open up your senses. In this room, you will perceive a variety of intangible forces. In front of you stands a monolith of beeswax. Go stand in front of the artwork. You will feel a breeze through the aperture in the sculpture. Inhale deeply. Now exhale. Can you smell the faint aroma of beeswax on the breeze? As you continue along the wall and move toward the left, you may feel a wave of heat. The stainless steel mounds scattered along the wall reflect your own image back at you while emitting burning heat. Move between these sensorial moments, and compare these sensations. In this space, you may use your various senses to experience the ineffable, yet palpable, forces of wind, light, and heat.