Olafur Eliasson (1967)
The sun, a rain shower or ripples on water: all natural phenomena that we would not expect to find in a museum. And we might never have, had Olafur Eliasson (Denmark/Iceland) not set out to explore objectless art in the nineteen-eighties. He dresses whole spaces with light, colour and water until they no longer seem empty, but beg the attention of all the senses. The fleeting beauty that nature gives to us every day - a rainbow or a wisp of fog - Eliasson captures within four walls and transforms into nearly tangible phenomena. Eliasson calls it "seeing yourself sensing". He stretches the moment of observation out as long as possible, so you become aware of the process. "Let’s use nature to explore who we really are," says Eliasson.
As simple as his lighting installations, water reflections or mirroring surfaces appear, they often involve a large team of naturalists, mechanical engineers, metalworkers, carpenters and electricians. Capturing nature proves to be no easy task, but Eliasson orchestrates with a sharp eye. He seeks to create an ephemeral atmosphere that stays with you like a mist. Just how encompassing his installations can be was made clear by his exhibition The Weather Project in the Tate Modern in 2004. The project was built around that favourite conversation topic of the British: the weather. Eliasson hung a huge sun on the wall of the former power station that is home to the Tate Modern. Built of orange streetlights that cancel out all colour, it virtually demanded visitors to lose themselves in sunny reverie. Like all Eliasson’s installations, visitors could walk freely inside the piece. In one fell swoop Eliasson transformed the monumental turbine hall into a lounge-like space full of people in repose - many simply lying on the ground. And so, Eliasson brought the cycle of man and environment full circle: colour and light need each other, time is fleeting and spaces can be infinite - if we can free ourselves from our own temporal constraints and look with an open mind.
Eliasson’s work can be found in many collections around the world, and has been seen from San Francisco to Beijing, including in New York (MoMA and P.S.1) and London (Tate Modern).
