After three years of in-depth research, Therme Art and Ikona Collection support the construction and programme of Catharsis by architect Arthur Mamou-Mani in Nevada’s desert.

Catharsis VR Rendering, Courtesy of Mamou-Mani Ltd

Comprising 60 timber modules with seven gateways reaching toward the sky, Catharsis is a “fractal gallery for our infinite dreams” (Mamou-Mani, 2022) that was met with creative contributions from artists such as Refik Anadol, Joulia Strauss, among others.

Located in Nevada, Catharsis elicits a dream-like state, inviting both personal reflection and long-term urban renewal strategies through a series of installations that engaged its audience.

Mamou-Mani’s intricate and playful Catharsis structure is a physical symbol of the hyperbolic, imaginative space that exists within all of us. Its three-dimensional geometric shape, where conventional boundaries are entirely broken down, represents the infinite realities that can arise if we merely expand our minds.

Therme Art and Ikona Collection hosted a collective group show at the amphitheater throughout its week-long programming in Nevada, curated by Mamou-Mani. The programming, which welcomed a wide range of arts and performances embracing radical inclusion and self-expression, explored the role of artificial intelligence and collective belonging in co-creating spaces for wellbeing and creativity.

Catharsis featured:

• Machine Hallucinations by Refik Anadol
• Paragraph Zero VR Exploration and The Earth as a Legal Entity: Performance & Keynote by Joulia Strauss
• Catharsis Sound Healing by Gendalå + Jermey
• Drum Performance by Noah Katz-Appel
• Wellbeing Culture Forum on Communal Dreaming & Algorithmic Thinking
• Evolutionary Transition in Human Adaptation Talk by Dr. Nate Walworth
• Terry Riley’s in C by Art Haus Collective
• Musical Performances by Amanda Gregory, David Kim, Seastars, Cello Joe and Romain Collin: Jazz Performance
• Talk & Poetry Reading by Dr. Sian Proctor and MarieLiz Bender

Catharsis’s everyday programming included the installation Machine Hallucinations by Refik Anadol and the performance Paragraph Zero VR Exploration by Joulia Strauss. The software-based artwork, Machine Hallucinations, was projection-mapped onto fragments of the Catharsis amphitheatre using MindMaze’s groundbreaking neurotechnology. This comprehensive, multi-reality work responds to viewers’ neurological brainwaves and invites them to visualise collective awareness and contemplate the meaning of belonging and interpersonal wellbeing. 

© Laurian Ghinitoiu

Joulia Strauss’s Paragraph Zero VR Exploration was an ongoing daytime exhibition throughout the entirety of Catharsis’s programme. This VR exploration is based on a model of the universal law declaring environmental personhood for Mother Earth. This legislative body of work is manifested in the physical shape of the sign §0, which constitutes a shamanic garden in the Metaverse, including Datura, Coca, Magic Mushrooms, Salvia, Peyote and Tobacco. Joulia Strauss performed the universal law from her exhibited work on a reconstructed Ancient Greek lyre, a Pythagorean healing instrument that embodies catharsis and was used in traditional techniques rooted in indigenous Europe. 

© Laurian Ghinitoiu

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Explore Catharsis in 3D here.