Artist to transform Las Vegas MSG Sphere exterior into AI sculpture

Exosphere rendering MSG Sphere (Refik Anadol Studio, 2023 Courtesy of Sphere Entertainment)

by: Julia Romero

Posted: Aug 31, 2023 / 04:22 PM PDT

Updated: Aug 31, 2023 / 04:22 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The newest multi-billion dollar attraction in Las Vegas is set for a colorful makeover of sorts.

On Thursday, Sphere Entertainment Company announced that artist Refik Anadol would become the first artist to utilize the Exosphere, the fully programmable LED exterior of the MSG Sphere as an immersive canvas.

Anadol will debut an AI Data Sculpture created exclusively for Sphere called Machine Hallucinations: Sphere on Friday, Sept. 1.

It’s described as an immersive digital experience, that celebrates the Sphere’s unique architecture by featuring visualizations using vast amounts of data to create abstract imagery of space and nature.

The two-chapter series, which Anadol refers to as “AI Data Sculptures,” creates a collective, meditative, and multisensory experience that takes audiences on a journey of light, movement, and color with vivid pigments, shapes, and patterns, according to a news release sent on Thursday.

The Exosphere has approximately 1.2 million LED pucks with each containing 48 individual LEDs, each capable of displaying 256 million colors.

The immersive experience invites viewers to imagine alternative realities constructed by invisible data movements around them.

“I am extremely honored to be the first artist to utilize the exterior of Sphere,” Anadol said. “It’s so exciting to be given such an architectural and engineering marvel as a canvas.”

Anadol’s work has been exhibited at many venues for art, such as MoMA, New York; Art Basel, Miami; and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.

The MSG Sphere introduced the fully-lit display on its 360-degree Exosphere to the public at the beginning of July and made waves across social media with many posting pictures and videos of the new attraction.

Irish rock band U2 is set to become the first act to perform at the MSG Sphere on September 29.

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.