OMA Space

Golden Journey is about Kochi, an important spice trading center on the west coast of India from antiquity. The seaport city in southwestern India was known to Arabs since the 7th century, where spices such as pepper and cloves produced in the region were traded. Black pepper was worth more than gold by weight and earned the title black gold. The golden object in the center and the physical form of the ash are an homage to the spice trade as well as a visual representation of Bindu Chakra. Chakra is Sanskrit means “wheel” or “cycle”. Bindu is also Sanskrit, meaning “point”, “drop” or “dot”, and is the central point in the body among many focal points of mental power throughout the body. Traditional Indian medicine Ayurveda heals through stimulating the chakras with the fragrance and color of amṛta (甘露: nectar) to awaken the senses of the body and spirit. Spectators to the exhibition become olfactory observers, encountering the fragrance of the object to have their senses and neural passageways awakened and enlightened. The video signifies our eternal journey, animated in the phenomenology of fragrance and ambiance that constantly changes and propagates, in forms of swirling ocean currents and golden turbulence that break over the landscape of space and earth. Fragrance travels through air; colors refract through light, spiriting the body and mind into a deep world of sensory experience.

OMA Space is a creative art & design studio based in Korea. They pursue contemporary art, design works, and experiential immersive installations that explore the interaction between human and nature, combining ancient and primitive technology with digital tools. The studio broke new ground in 2019 with its first-ever immersive interactive installation in collaboration with Google Art & Culture France, presenting at Le Mobilier National in Paris works that sublimate consciousness through art. Based on its exploration of the human-nature interaction, the studio presents multi-sensory space-time experiences that deeply resonate with the primal unconscious. Nature’s elements such as organic fabrics light, sound, ambiance, and water are material to their art. Their series of works are faithful to the core human sensory experience, raising serious existential questions on what is reality and what is illusion.

Artist & Founder Oma
Creative director Daniel Kapelian (France)
Producer & Designer Gil Kyoungyoung
Project manager Kim Sejin