In the heart of Seoul, where the relentless energy of the Dongdaemun district meets the futuristic curves of the Zaha Hadid architecture, a strange and beautiful organism has come to rest. For the 2025 edition of DDP Design & Art, French artist Vincent Leroy has installed his monumental work, Molecular Cloud, transforming the plaza in front of the iconic Dongdaemun Design Plaza into a stage for a hypnotic ballet. The exhibition’s theme of movement finds its most poetic expression in this kinetic sculpture that seems to breathe with a life of its own.
Inspired by the vast, nebulous formations found in deep space, Molecular Cloud is a masterpiece of dreamlike imagination. Composed of numerous large, mirrored spheres tinted in a glossy, ethereal pink, the installation hovers weightlessly. At first, it appears static, a frozen constellation. Then, almost imperceptibly, it begins to stir. The spheres shift and reconfigure in a slow, fluid motion, creating an ever-evolving form that exists in a delicate balance between precise geometry and randomness. This is Vincent Leroy art at its finest: a seamless fusion of engineering and magic.
The true magic of the work unfolds in its dialogue with its environment. The glossy pink spheres act as a multifaceted eye, capturing and distorting reflections of the Seoul sky, the surrounding cityscape, and the visitors passing beneath it. This play of light and reflection is continuous, but the gentle movement of the sculpture ensures it is never the same twice. The effect is a captivating immersive installationthat dissolves the boundaries between the artwork, the architecture, and the viewer.
The choice of location is no coincidence. Suspended before the undulating, metallic facade of the DDP museum, Molecular Cloud enters into a profound conversation with Hadid’s architectural marvel. The organic, flowing lines of the building find a kinetic echo in the floating rhythms of Leroy’s sculpture. One structure is static, permanent; the other is ephemeral, breathing. Yet together, their reflective surfaces create an ever-shifting interplay of form and shadow, a duet between the built and the temporary.
“This project was first imagined in Paris, and brought to life for the first time in California for the Coachella Festival in 2023,” Leroy explains. “Now, in Seoul, it’s been reimagined and crafted by a workshop in Guangzhou, guided by a Hong Kong-based production agency. It’s truly a multinational collaboration. I find these cross-cultural exchanges deeply enriching.”
More than a visual spectacle, Molecular Cloud offers a contemplative pause in the midst of urban chaos. It compels passersby to slow down, to look up, and to drift into a moment of quiet observation. It is a sensory experience that challenges our perception of reality and illusion. In a world obsessed with speed, Leroy’s work is a powerful reminder that the most profound movements can be soft, slow, and deeply poetic. This is not just a sculpture to be seen, but a phenomenon to be felt.