Olafur Eliasson
Encyclopedia
Olafur Eliasson is a Danish
-Iceland
ic artist known for sculptures and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience. In 1995 he established Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin, a laboratory for spatial research. Eliasson represented Denmark
at the 50th Venice Biennale
in 2003 and later that year installed The Weather Project in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern
, London
.
Eliasson has engaged in a number of projects in public space, including the intervention Green river, carried out in various cities between 1998 and 2001; the Serpentine Gallery
Pavilion 2007, London, a temporary pavilion designed with the Norwegian architect Kjetil Thorsen; and The New York City Waterfalls
, commissioned by Public Art Fund
in 2008.
Olafur Eliasson, born in Copenhagen in 1967 to Icelandic parents, studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts between 1989 and 1995.
In 2004 Eliasson told Berlin magazine 032c
that his father was also an artist; in the same interview he also said that at one time he considered his "break-dancing" during the mid-80s to be his first artworks. In 1990, when he was awarded a travel budget by the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, Eliasson went to New York where he started working as a studio assistant. He received his degree from the academy in 1995, after having moved in 1993 to Cologne for a year, and then to Berlin, where he has since maintained a studio. First located in a warehouse right next door to the Hamburger Bahnhof
, the studio moved to a former brewery in Prenzlauer Berg
in 2008.
In 1996, Eliasson started working with Einar Thorsteinn, an architect
and geometry
expert 25 years his senior as well as a former friend of Buckminster Fuller
's. The first piece they created called 8900054, was a stainless-steel dome 30 feet (9.1 m) wide and 7 feet (2.1 m) high, designed to be seen as if it were growing from the ground. Though the effect is an illusion, the mind has a hard time believing that the structure is not part of a much grander one developing from deep below the surface. Thorsteinn's knowledge of geometry
and space
has been integrated into Eliasson's artistic production, often seen in his geometric lamp works as well as his pavilions, tunnels and camera obscura projects. For many projects, the artist works collaboratively with specialists in various fields, among them the architects Thorsteinn and Sebastian Behmann (both of whom have been frequent collaborators), author Svend Åge Madsen (The Blind Pavilion), landscape architect Gunther Vogt (The Mediated Motion), architecture theorist Cedric Price
(Chaque matin je me sens différent, chaque soir je me sens le même), and architect Kjetil Thorsen (Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, 2007). Today, Studio Olafur Eliasson is a laboratory for spatial research that employs a team of circa 30 architects, engineers, craftsmen, and assistants who work together to conceptualize, test, engineer, and construct installations, sculptures, large-scale projects, and commissions.
As professor at Universität der Künste Berlin
, Olafur Eliasson founded the Institute for Spatial Experiments (Institut für Raumexperimente, IfREX), which opened within his studio building in April 2009.
in 2003 as part of the popular Unilever series. The installation filled the open space of the gallery's Turbine Hall.
Eliasson used humidifiers to create a fine mist in the air via a mixture of sugar
and water
, as well as a semi-circular disc made up of hundreds of monochromatic lamps which radiated single frequency yellow light. The ceiling of the hall was covered with a huge mirrors, in which visitors could see themselves as tiny black shadows against a mass of orange light. Many visitors responded to this exhibition by lying on their backs and waving their hands and legs. Open for six months, the work reportedly attracted two million visitors, many of whom were repeat customers.
, is a 90-metre-long tunnel. Entering the tunnel, the visitor is surrounded by dense fog. With visibility at just 1.5 metres, museumgoers have to use senses other than sight to orient themselves in relation to their surroundings. For Feelings are facts, the first time Eliasson has worked with Chinese architect Yansong Ma
as well as his first exhibition in China, Eliasson introduces condensed banks of artificially produced fog into the gallery of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art
, Beijing. Hundreds of fluorescent lights are installed in the ceiling as a grid of red, green, and blue zones.
by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary in collaboration with British architect David Adjaye
, was shown from 1 August to 31 October 2005 on the island of San Lazzaro
in the lagoon near Venice, Italy. A temporary pavilion was constructed on the grounds of the monastery to house the exhibit, consisting of a square room painted black with one source of illumination - a thin, continuous line of light set into all four walls of the room at the viewers eye-level, serving as a horizontal division between above and below. From June 2007 through October 2008, the pavilion was reopened on the island of Lopud
, Croatia near the city of Dubrovnik.
in 2007 to create the sixteenth art car for the BMW Art Car Project. Based on the BMW H2R
concept vehicle, Eliasson and his team removed the automobile's alloy body and instead replaced it with a new interlocking framework of reflective steel bars and mesh. Layers of ice were created by spraying approximately 530 gallons of water during a period of several days upon the structure. On display, the frozen sculpture is glowing from within. Your mobile expectations: BMW H2R project was on special display in a temperature controlled room at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
from 2007-08 and at the Pinakothek der Moderne
, Munich, in 2008.
Eliasson was commissioned by The Public Art Fund
to create four man-made waterfalls, called the New York City Waterfalls
, ranging in a height from 90–120 ft., in New York Harbor
. The installation ran from June 26 through October 13, 2008. At $15.5 million, it was the most expensive public art
s project since Christo and Jeanne-Claude
's installation of The Gates
in Central Park
.
, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The installation is based on the original Icelandic parliament, Althingi http://www.althingi.is/vefur/upplens.html, one of the world's earliest democratic forums. The artist envisions the project as a place where students and visitors can gather to relax, discuss ideas, or have an argument. The parliament
of reality emphasizes that negotiation should be the core of any educational scheme. The man-made island is surrounded by a 30-foot circular lake, 24 trees, and wild grasses. The 100 feet (30.5 m) island is composed of a cut-bluestone, compass
-like floor pattern (based upon meridian lines and navigational charts), on top of which 30 river-washed boulders create an outdoor seating area for students and the public to gather. The island is reached by a 20-foot-long stainless steel lattice-canopied bridge, creating the effect that visitors are entering a stage or outdoor forum. Frogs gather in this wiry mesh at night, creating an enjoyable symphony.
, Reykjavík's
new concert hall and conference centre, which is under construction in the Austurhöfn area of the city. In close collaboration with his studio team and Henning Larsen Architects
, Eliasson has designed a unique facade consisting of large quasi bricks, a stackable twelve sided module in steel and glass. The facade will reflect the city life and the different light composed by the movements of the sun and varying weather. During night the glass bricks are lid up by different colored LED lights. The building was opened on 13 May 2011.
in 2006, lamps titled Eye See You were installed in the Christmas windows of Louis Vuitton stores; a lamp titled 'You See Me' went on permanent display at Louis Vuitton Fifth Avenue, New York. All fees from the project were donated to 121Ethiopia.org, a charitable foundation established by Eliasson and his wife.
In 2007, Eliasson developed the stage design for Phaedra
, an opera production at the Berlin State Opera
.
Along with James Corner
's landscape architecture firm Field Operations and architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro
, Eliasson was part of the design team for New York's High Line park.
in Cologne in 1993, before moving to Berlin in 1994. In 1996, Eliasson had his first show in the United States at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(SFMOMA) organized Eliasson's first major survey in the United States Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson, on view from September 8, 2007 to February 24, 2008. Curated by the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
, Madeleine Grynsztejn
(then Elise S. Haas Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture at SFMOMA), in close collaboration with the artist, the major survey spanned the artist's career from 1993 and 2007. The exhibit included site-specific installations, large-scale immersive environments, freestanding sculpture, photography, and special commissions seen through a succession of interconnected rooms and corridors. The museum's skylight bridge was turned into an installation titled One-way colour tunnel. Following its San Francisco debut, the exhibit embarked on an international tour to the Museum of Modern Art
, and P.S.1. Contemporary Art Center, New York, 2008; the Dallas Museum of Art
, Dallas, Texas, 2008–09; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
, 2009; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2009-2010. He has also had major solo exhibitions at, among others, Kunsthaus Bregenz
, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, and ZKM
(Center for Art and Media), Karlsruhe (2001); Schirn Kunsthalle
, Frankfurt (2004); Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
, Tokyo (2006); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (2009); and Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2010). Eliasson has also appeared in numerous group exhibitions, including the São Paulo Biennial and the Istanbul Biennial
(1997), Venice Biennale
(1999, 2001 and 2005), and the Carnegie International
(1999).
The artist is represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
in New York, Gallery Koyanagi in Tokyo, PKM Gallery in Seoul/Beijing, and Neugerriemschneider in Berlin.
, brought Olafur Eliasson the Benesse Prize by the Benesse Corporation. In 2007, Eliasson won the first Joan Miró Prize by the Joan Miró Foundation.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
-Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic artist known for sculptures and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience. In 1995 he established Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin, a laboratory for spatial research. Eliasson represented Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
at the 50th Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 2003 and later that year installed The Weather Project in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Eliasson has engaged in a number of projects in public space, including the intervention Green river, carried out in various cities between 1998 and 2001; the Serpentine Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...
Pavilion 2007, London, a temporary pavilion designed with the Norwegian architect Kjetil Thorsen; and The New York City Waterfalls
New York City Waterfalls
New York City Waterfalls is a public art project by artist Olafur Eliasson, in collaboration with the Public Art Fund, consisting of four man-made waterfalls placed around New York City along the East River. At $15.5 million, it is the most expensive public arts project since Christo and...
, commissioned by Public Art Fund
Public Art Fund
The Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman , a Director of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and the President of the Municipal Art Society. They have organized highly visible artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in...
in 2008.
Life
In 2004 Eliasson told Berlin magazine 032c
032c
032c magazine is an English-language, bi-annual contemporary culture magazine that covers art, fashion, and politics. The magazine is published in Berlin....
that his father was also an artist; in the same interview he also said that at one time he considered his "break-dancing" during the mid-80s to be his first artworks. In 1990, when he was awarded a travel budget by the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, Eliasson went to New York where he started working as a studio assistant. He received his degree from the academy in 1995, after having moved in 1993 to Cologne for a year, and then to Berlin, where he has since maintained a studio. First located in a warehouse right next door to the Hamburger Bahnhof
Hamburger Bahnhof
Hamburger Bahnhof is a former railway station in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstraße in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as the Museum für Gegenwart , a contemporary art museum....
, the studio moved to a former brewery in Prenzlauer Berg
Prenzlauer Berg
Prenzlauer Berg is a locality of Berlin, in the borough of Pankow.Until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a borough of Berlin; in that year it was included in the borough of Pankow....
in 2008.
In 1996, Eliasson started working with Einar Thorsteinn, an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
expert 25 years his senior as well as a former friend of Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
's. The first piece they created called 8900054, was a stainless-steel dome 30 feet (9.1 m) wide and 7 feet (2.1 m) high, designed to be seen as if it were growing from the ground. Though the effect is an illusion, the mind has a hard time believing that the structure is not part of a much grander one developing from deep below the surface. Thorsteinn's knowledge of geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
and space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
has been integrated into Eliasson's artistic production, often seen in his geometric lamp works as well as his pavilions, tunnels and camera obscura projects. For many projects, the artist works collaboratively with specialists in various fields, among them the architects Thorsteinn and Sebastian Behmann (both of whom have been frequent collaborators), author Svend Åge Madsen (The Blind Pavilion), landscape architect Gunther Vogt (The Mediated Motion), architecture theorist Cedric Price
Cedric Price
Cedric Price was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.The son of an architect, Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire and studied architecture at Cambridge University Cedric Price (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential...
(Chaque matin je me sens différent, chaque soir je me sens le même), and architect Kjetil Thorsen (Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, 2007). Today, Studio Olafur Eliasson is a laboratory for spatial research that employs a team of circa 30 architects, engineers, craftsmen, and assistants who work together to conceptualize, test, engineer, and construct installations, sculptures, large-scale projects, and commissions.
As professor at Universität der Künste Berlin
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
, Olafur Eliasson founded the Institute for Spatial Experiments (Institut für Raumexperimente, IfREX), which opened within his studio building in April 2009.
Works and Projects
Ventilator pieces
Early works by Eliasson consist of oscillating electric fans hanging from the ceiling. Ventilator (1997) swings back and forth and around, rotating on its axis. Quadrible light ventilator mobile (2002-2007) is a rotating electrically powered mobile comprising a searchlight and four fans blowing air around the exhibition room and scanning it with the light cone.The weather project
The weather project was installed at the London's Tate ModernTate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
in 2003 as part of the popular Unilever series. The installation filled the open space of the gallery's Turbine Hall.
Eliasson used humidifiers to create a fine mist in the air via a mixture of sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
and water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, as well as a semi-circular disc made up of hundreds of monochromatic lamps which radiated single frequency yellow light. The ceiling of the hall was covered with a huge mirrors, in which visitors could see themselves as tiny black shadows against a mass of orange light. Many visitors responded to this exhibition by lying on their backs and waving their hands and legs. Open for six months, the work reportedly attracted two million visitors, many of whom were repeat customers.
Light installations
Eliasson has been developing various experiments with atmospheric density in exhibition spaces. In Room For One Colour (1998), a corridor lit by yellow monofrequency tubes, the participant finds herself in a room filled with light that affects the perception of all other colours. Another installation, 360 degrees Room For All Colours (2002), is a round light-sculpture where participants loose their sense of space and perspective, and experience being subsumed by an intense light. Eliasson's later installation Din blinde passager (Your blind passenger) (2010), commissioned by the Arken Museum of Modern ArtArken Museum of Modern Art
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art is a private non-for-profit charity, state authorized, contemporary art museum near Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The museum was conceived and created by Copenhagen County.-Museum:...
, is a 90-metre-long tunnel. Entering the tunnel, the visitor is surrounded by dense fog. With visibility at just 1.5 metres, museumgoers have to use senses other than sight to orient themselves in relation to their surroundings. For Feelings are facts, the first time Eliasson has worked with Chinese architect Yansong Ma
Yansong Ma
Yansong Ma was born on 1975 in Beijing, China a Chinese architect and founder of MAD architects.-Early career:His most well-known works are "Floating Island" and "Absolute World"...
as well as his first exhibition in China, Eliasson introduces condensed banks of artificially produced fog into the gallery of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art
UCCA
UCCA may stand for:* Universities Central Council on Admissions, which handled applications to UK universities between 1961 and 1993* Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, a not-for-profit organization representes the interests of America's ethnic Ukrainians* University College for the Creative...
, Beijing. Hundreds of fluorescent lights are installed in the ceiling as a grid of red, green, and blue zones.
Your black horizon
This project, a light installation commissioned for the Venice BiennaleVenice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary in collaboration with British architect David Adjaye
David Adjaye
David Adjaye OBE is a British architect.-Early life:David Adjaye was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The son of a Ghanaian diplomat who has lived in Tanzania, Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon before moving to Britain at the age of nine, he led a privileged life and was privately educated...
, was shown from 1 August to 31 October 2005 on the island of San Lazzaro
San Lazzaro degli Armeni
San Lazzaro degli Armeni is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy, lying immediately west of the Lido; completely occupied by a monastery that is the mother-house of the Mekhitarist Order, the island is one of the world's foremost centers of Armenian culture.- Background :The...
in the lagoon near Venice, Italy. A temporary pavilion was constructed on the grounds of the monastery to house the exhibit, consisting of a square room painted black with one source of illumination - a thin, continuous line of light set into all four walls of the room at the viewers eye-level, serving as a horizontal division between above and below. From June 2007 through October 2008, the pavilion was reopened on the island of Lopud
Lopud
Lopud is a small island off the coast of Dalmatia, southern Croatia. Lopud is one of the Elaphiti Islands, and can be reached by boat from Dubrovnik, Orasac and Zaton. The island is famous for its sandy beaches, in particular the bay of Šunj....
, Croatia near the city of Dubrovnik.
Your mobile expectations: BMW H2R project
Eliasson was commissioned by BMWBMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
in 2007 to create the sixteenth art car for the BMW Art Car Project. Based on the BMW H2R
BMW H2R
The BMW H2R is one of the first of a new breed of racecars adapted to run on liquid hydrogen fuel. Conceived and developed in the relatively short time of 10 months under the direction of Dr...
concept vehicle, Eliasson and his team removed the automobile's alloy body and instead replaced it with a new interlocking framework of reflective steel bars and mesh. Layers of ice were created by spraying approximately 530 gallons of water during a period of several days upon the structure. On display, the frozen sculpture is glowing from within. Your mobile expectations: BMW H2R project was on special display in a temperature controlled room at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
from 2007-08 and at the Pinakothek der Moderne
Pinakothek der Moderne
The Pinakothek der Moderne is a modern art museum, situated in the city centre of Munich, Germany. Together with its two predecessors Alte Pinakothek and Neue Pinakothek The Pinakothek der Moderne (= "(Art) Gallery of the Modern"; from Greek: "pinax" = "board", "tablet") is a modern art museum,...
, Munich, in 2008.
The New York City Waterfalls
Public Art Fund
The Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman , a Director of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and the President of the Municipal Art Society. They have organized highly visible artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in...
to create four man-made waterfalls, called the New York City Waterfalls
New York City Waterfalls
New York City Waterfalls is a public art project by artist Olafur Eliasson, in collaboration with the Public Art Fund, consisting of four man-made waterfalls placed around New York City along the East River. At $15.5 million, it is the most expensive public arts project since Christo and...
, ranging in a height from 90–120 ft., in New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. The installation ran from June 26 through October 13, 2008. At $15.5 million, it was the most expensive public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
s project since Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art...
's installation of The Gates
The Gates
The Gates was a site-specific work of art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along 23 miles of pathways in Central Park in New York City. From each gate hung a panel of deep saffron-colored nylon fabric...
in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
.
The Parliament of Reality
Dedicated on May 15, 2009, this permanent sculpture stands at Bard CollegeBard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The installation is based on the original Icelandic parliament, Althingi http://www.althingi.is/vefur/upplens.html, one of the world's earliest democratic forums. The artist envisions the project as a place where students and visitors can gather to relax, discuss ideas, or have an argument. The parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of reality emphasizes that negotiation should be the core of any educational scheme. The man-made island is surrounded by a 30-foot circular lake, 24 trees, and wild grasses. The 100 feet (30.5 m) island is composed of a cut-bluestone, compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
-like floor pattern (based upon meridian lines and navigational charts), on top of which 30 river-washed boulders create an outdoor seating area for students and the public to gather. The island is reached by a 20-foot-long stainless steel lattice-canopied bridge, creating the effect that visitors are entering a stage or outdoor forum. Frogs gather in this wiry mesh at night, creating an enjoyable symphony.
Harpa
Eliasson designed the facade of HarpaHarpa (concert hall)
Harpa is a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík, Iceland. The building is in the final stages of construction. The opening concert was held on May 4, 2011. Harpa was designed by the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects in co-operation with Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson...
, Reykjavík's
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
new concert hall and conference centre, which is under construction in the Austurhöfn area of the city. In close collaboration with his studio team and Henning Larsen Architects
Henning Larsen Architects
Henning Larsen Architects is an international architecture firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1959 by noted Danish architect and namesake Henning Larsen, it has around 150 employees...
, Eliasson has designed a unique facade consisting of large quasi bricks, a stackable twelve sided module in steel and glass. The facade will reflect the city life and the different light composed by the movements of the sun and varying weather. During night the glass bricks are lid up by different colored LED lights. The building was opened on 13 May 2011.
Other projects
Commissioned by Louis VuittonLouis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...
in 2006, lamps titled Eye See You were installed in the Christmas windows of Louis Vuitton stores; a lamp titled 'You See Me' went on permanent display at Louis Vuitton Fifth Avenue, New York. All fees from the project were donated to 121Ethiopia.org, a charitable foundation established by Eliasson and his wife.
In 2007, Eliasson developed the stage design for Phaedra
Phaedra (opera)
Phaedra is a 'concert opera' in two-acts by Hans Werner Henze. Its first performance was given at the Berlin State Opera on 6 September 2007...
, an opera production at the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
.
Along with James Corner
James Corner
James Corner is a Landscape Architect and theorist with numerous works to his credit which explore the contemporary meaning of architectural landscaping, with a focus on "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." His designs of note include Fresh Kills...
's landscape architecture firm Field Operations and architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is a New York City-based interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Originally founded by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio in 1979, the firm is particularly well known for its interdisciplinary approach to...
, Eliasson was part of the design team for New York's High Line park.
Exhibitions
Eliasson had his first solo show with Nicolaus SchafhausenNicolaus Schafhausen
Nicolaus Schafhausen is a curator.Since 2006, Schafhausen is the artistic and financial director of Witte de With, Center for Contemporary art in Rotterdam, The Netherlands....
in Cologne in 1993, before moving to Berlin in 1994. In 1996, Eliasson had his first show in the United States at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is an art gallery located in Chelsea in New York City founded by Tanya Bonakdar. Since its inception in 1994, the gallery has maintained a consistent and rigorous program in the exhibition of new work by contemporary artists in all media, including painting, sculpture,...
. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
(SFMOMA) organized Eliasson's first major survey in the United States Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson, on view from September 8, 2007 to February 24, 2008. Curated by the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
, Madeleine Grynsztejn
Madeleine Grynsztejn
Madeleine Grynsztejn is the Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Grynsztejn became director in 2008.-Life and Education:...
(then Elise S. Haas Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture at SFMOMA), in close collaboration with the artist, the major survey spanned the artist's career from 1993 and 2007. The exhibit included site-specific installations, large-scale immersive environments, freestanding sculpture, photography, and special commissions seen through a succession of interconnected rooms and corridors. The museum's skylight bridge was turned into an installation titled One-way colour tunnel. Following its San Francisco debut, the exhibit embarked on an international tour to the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, and P.S.1. Contemporary Art Center, New York, 2008; the Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
, Dallas, Texas, 2008–09; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
, 2009; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia is an Australian museum solely dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting and collecting contemporary art, both from across Australia and around the world...
2009-2010. He has also had major solo exhibitions at, among others, Kunsthaus Bregenz
Kunsthaus Bregenz
The Kunsthaus Bregenz presents temporary exhibitions of international contemporary art in Bregenz, capital of the Austrian Federal State of Vorarlberg...
, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, and ZKM
Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
The Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe in Karlsruhe, Germany is an interdisciplinary art museum and research institution focusing on new media....
(Center for Art and Media), Karlsruhe (2001); Schirn Kunsthalle
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
The Schirn Kunsthalle is Frankfurt's active exhibition space located in the heart of the old city next to the Dom , exhibiting both modern and contemporary art. Exhibitions in recent years included retrospectives of Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Frida Kahlo, Alberto Giacometti, Bill Viola, and...
, Frankfurt (2004); Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art is one of the oldest museums of contemporary art in Japan. The museum is in The Roppongi district, in the Akasaka area of Tokyo. It's street address is: 4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Tokyo 140-0001....
, Tokyo (2006); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa (2009); and Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2010). Eliasson has also appeared in numerous group exhibitions, including the São Paulo Biennial and the Istanbul Biennial
Istanbul Biennial
The International Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition, held every two years in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The biennial is organised by the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. The Biennial aims to create a meeting point in İstanbul in the field of visual arts between artists...
(1997), Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
(1999, 2001 and 2005), and the Carnegie International
Carnegie International
The Carnegie International is the oldest North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896 in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established the International to educate and inspire the...
(1999).
The artist is represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is an art gallery located in Chelsea in New York City founded by Tanya Bonakdar. Since its inception in 1994, the gallery has maintained a consistent and rigorous program in the exhibition of new work by contemporary artists in all media, including painting, sculpture,...
in New York, Gallery Koyanagi in Tokyo, PKM Gallery in Seoul/Beijing, and Neugerriemschneider in Berlin.
Recognition
The Spiral Pavilion, conceived in 1999 for the Venice Biennial and today on display at Kunsthalle BielefeldKunsthalle Bielefeld
The Kunsthalle Bielefeld is a modern art museum in Bielefeld, Germany. It was designed by Philip Johnson in 1968, and paid for by the businessman and art patron Rudolf August Oetker.-Collection and exhibitions:...
, brought Olafur Eliasson the Benesse Prize by the Benesse Corporation. In 2007, Eliasson won the first Joan Miró Prize by the Joan Miró Foundation.
External links
- Olafur Eliasson Official website
- Video of Olafur Eliasson conference : The Sun has no money
- Institut für Raumexperimente
- MoMA 2008: Olafur Eliasson: take your time
- 1998 article from frieze
- Tate Modern: The Weather Project
- SFMOMA 2007: Olafur Eliasson Survey
- 'Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson' at SFMOMA
- Olafur Eliasson: Your Mobile Expectations
- http://arttube.boijmans.nl/en/video/Notion_Motion_en/Olafur Eliasson on Arttube (Museum Boijmans van BeuningenMuseum Boijmans Van BeuningenThe Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...
)] - New York City Waterfalls
- Public Art Fund
- Art Info interview with Olafur Eliasson
- http://www.fundacionnmac.org/english/coleccion.php?id=93 [Olafur Eliasson at the Fundación NMAC]
- Article on Olafur Eliasson in ARTnord 10
- Video of Olafur Eliasson explaining Harpa's glass facade
- "Your Negotiable Panorama" installation (Arken Museum of Modern Art, Denmark)
- TateShots: Olafur Eliasson The artist talks about his recent work, Your Blind Passenger (2010). 30 June 2011