A large scale installation created by Japanese artist Rie Hachiyanagi with the help of more than 500 volunteers is now on display at the Lightwell Gallery in the OU School of Art and Art History, 520 Parrington Oval.

The exhibit, titled “One Million Every Four Days,” opened Oct. 5 and runs until Nov. 21.

“The impact of this figure is difficult to comprehend. One thousand baby dolls in this installation merely represent one thousandth of that reality,” Hachiyanagi said.

The installation is made of thousands of pieces of plexiglass, and hangs freely from the ceiling of the 54,000 cubic foot gallery. Within the work are the tiny baby figurines, which were hung by the volunteers.

“This installation is inspired by our ever more complex relationship to birth and the precarious balance of our life,” Hachiyanagi said.

The piece represents the 1 million people born every four days and addresses the issue of overpopulation as well as the volunteers’ perceptions about birth in general.

“[Hachiyanagi] had students connect them while thinking about birth and the issue of overpopulation” Jordan Strickland, studio art senior and a volunteer who helped construct the piece, said.

Strickland said the volunteers were each asked to write a comment on a piece of paper regarding their feelings about birth.

The comments surround the structure on all four walls of the gallery. Some have left messages pushing contraception, while others are highly personal. In one comment, a student reveals, “I’m afraid humans will destroy this planet.”

Hachiyanagi said the importance of the comments is that one can “read each other’s words while you visually experience embodied thoughts through baby doll arrangements.”

Tes Barton, studio art senior, said her favorite part of the experience was the interaction with the community and getting to hear people converse about the project.

“This community effort or participatory type of art allows for a sense of ownership by the people who worked on the art so closely,” said professor Jonathan Hils, graduate liaison for the OU School of Art and Art History, said.

Hils was involved in the initiation of Lightwell Projects, which he said was “aimed at bringing contemporary artists to the school to realize large-scale projects.”

“I’ve received feedback from students that this was the most significant thing they’ve done as a student here — they felt like they were a part of a real project that wasn’t an exercise for class,” he said.

Barton said she believes the exhibit will have just as large of an impact on others as it has had on volunteers.

“I think it’s a powerful piece” she said. “I don’t think you can go away unaffected.”

Hachiyanagi will speak at 6 p.m. today in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave. She will discuss her past work with installations and performance art, as well as her current piece. The lecture is free and open to the public.