Paracosmos

On your way to the second floor of the Singapore Art Museum, you’ll find yourself at the landing of a circular stairwell fitted with hundreds of hand-cut, circular mirrors that’ll distort your perception of where you think you are, and what you think you know. This is Paracosmos by Japanese artist Harumi Yukutake. Lights dance off reflections in wild abandon, offering psychedelic glimpses of fragmented objects and mirrors within mirrors as you ascend the flight of stairs. It makes for a pretty Instagram picture loaded with #gettingcultured-type hashtags, but at the core of Yukutake’s work is her intent to depict a space that has multiple layers of meaning to it – as inspired by the late philosopher Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia.