Yuko Mohri (Japon 1980) finds music in the leak of a ceiling and the decay of a piece of fruit. The Japanese artist, who recently represented her country at the Venice Biennale, brings her first major European survey to Santander, turning the light-filled galleries of Renzo Piano into a breathing ecosystem. Her work breathes life into discarded objects—kitchen utensils, old umbrellas, and speaker fabrics—reconfiguring them into circuits that respond to the invisible forces of the room.

You're watching a self-playing piano translate the rustle of the Cantabrian wind into a solitary melody, while a suspended spiral staircase hums with electric arcs. In one corner, rolls of paper gather dust that a scanner reads like a musical score, triggering soft pulses of light. The air feels thick with the tension of things being built and unmade, where even the slow chemical breakdown of a pear generates the electricity needed to power a rhythmic hum.

• Site-specific resonance: Mohri has created new works specifically for Santander, including paintings on speaker cloth and recordings of the local coastline.
• A kinetic symphony: Experience the famous Moré Moré series, where humble umbrellas and buckets become a sophisticated, rhythmic system for recycling water.
• The Venice momentum: This is the first opportunity in Spain to see the evolution of an artist whose blend of DIY bricolage and high philosophy captivated the 2024 Venice Biennale.

Walk slowly through the second floor of Centro Botín, allowing the overlapping sounds of the installations to guide your pace. The exhibition functions as a single unified environment, so avoid rushing from piece to piece. After stepping out, walk onto the building’s cantilevered walkway and look over the Bay of Santander; the natural movement of the tide and wind will feel like a continuation of Mohri’s mechanical choreography.