Every civilization forges its own tools to take on both the present and what lies beyond it: this is the role of the rituals, myths, and iconographies that spring up alongside the everyday. Andrius Arutiunian (b. 1991, Vilnius) starts out from this observation to invite visitors to Le Forum to enter into a futuristic, otherworldly space. Trained as a composer, Arutiunian has devised an exhibition made up of a series of installations where sound plays an essential role. 

Breaking with dated visions of the underworld, Andrius Arutiunian projects us into a version of limbo marked by avant-garde rituals that borrow their aesthetics from underground raves. Rhythmed by sculptures, installations, sound and video works, “Obol” resembles a club for hell’s divinities. While a chilling hymn blasts from oversized speakers, a sculpture on a bed of bitumen at the centre of one installation points to the artist’s interest in this viscous material associated in equal measure with ancient and sacred funeral rites and with contemporary profane and practical uses.

In a neighbouring, another installation resonates with eschatological murmurs of future deities evoking the end of days. A prospective ritual seems to be taking shape here with a synthetic choir, a laser altar and a cryptic text. Nearby, further motifs, including the titular obols – coins placed in the mouths of the dead to pay Charon to ferry them to the underworld – constitute an iconography of accessories dedicated to this futuristic underground world. Through this at once playful and solemn evocation of underworld myths, Arutiunian composes an exhibition that lends itself to a meditation on finitude and futurity alike.

Arutiunian was accompanied throughout the conception of this project by curator Tomoya Iwata (b. 1995), who directs the Tokyo alternative art space The 5th Floor. Keenly attuned to alternative artistic scenes, he received a carte blanche invitation from Le Forum curator Reiko Setsuda to share his singular perspective on contemporary creation.