This summer, the MFAH continues its series of grand-scale, immersive exhibitions. Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest and Worry Will Vanish brings together two mesmerizing works newly acquired by the Museum. Under the direction of the artist, these light-based and video-based installations transform the vast, central gallery of Cullinan Hall into a cosmic journey through time and space.

Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist (born 1962) has been among contemporary art’s chief innovators since the mid-1980s, working at the forefront of video and digital imagery. Pixel Forest, created in collaboration with lighting designer Kaori Kuwabara, is among Rist’s newest works, consisting of thousands of hanging LED lights, each controlled by a video signal so that the “forest” is constantly changing. Light sometimes shifts in a staccato rhythm, and sometimes in waves of color.

Worry Will Vanish is a corner projection with a lyrical, resonantly textured soundtrack by musician Anders Guggisberg, who has worked with Rist on numerous projects. Rist’s panoramic sequences chart a dreamlike journey through the natural landscape, the human body, and the heavens.

Visitors are invited to experience these two works of art in two different ways. For Pixel Forest, take a stroll through the installation, which the artist describes as “a digital image that has exploded in space.” As you watch Worry Will Vanish, recline on pillows and relax, losing yourself in Rist’s universe.

Together, the two installations—conceived independently—achieve a new synergy as they synchronize into a greater whole. The presentation of Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest and Worry Will Vanish extends the Museum’s commitment to light-based and immersive art, following summer exhibitions profiling artists Yayoi Kusama (At the End of the Universe), Jesús Rafael Soto (Houston Penetrable), and James Turrell (The Light Inside).