About the work:

“Fifteen stones (Ryōan-ji)” was a temporary exhibition by the artist Spencer Finch and promoted by the Mies van der Rohe Foundation. Since 1999, the foundation has been promoting artistic interventions in the pavilion in order to spread architectural culture, stimulate debate and generate new perspectives.

Spencer Finch’s proposal evoked the famous zen garden of the Ryōan-ji Temple, located in Kyoto. Spencer’s work, located in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion pond, had fifteen stones in such a way that it was not possible to see them at the same time, regardless of the observer’s position.

This abstract composition of stones in space encouraged meditation and connecting with the philosophical basis of Japanese culture.