Thursday Salute to Originals: Exit Up

Immersive art installation explores themes of living and goodbye-ing.

Artist Tadao Cern is exploring goodbyes in his latest work titled “French Exit.” As an immersive installation, the piece fills a gallery space with illuminated grasses.

The title of this installation refers to the colloquial phrase about an abrupt exit from a party or social get-together without a goodbye. Cern takes the phrase into the context of the final exit, dying.

Enter one room of the installation, and a soft, warm, and organic glow radiates from above— part of the artist’s metaphor for finding magical, deep meaning in natural phases of life and death.

“I tried to focus more on the aspect of what we would be missing the most during the last seconds of [dying] leaving this place.. My guess [is that] it would be something banal, like fields of wheat during the sunset…” said Cern in a statement.

This Thursday, we’re saluting Tadao Cern and the “French Exit.” You can view more of the artist’s work on Instagram or purchase prints on Patreon.

Sources: Tadao Cern, This is Colossal