Tree of Codes, 2015 by Wayne McGregor, Olafur Eliasson and Jamie xx with dancers from Company Wayne McGregor and Paris Opera Ballet - Opera House, Manchester, 2015 - Photo: Joel Chester Fildes

Olafur developed the visual concept for the contemporary ballet 'Tree of Codes', 2015, choreographed by Studio Wayne McGregor and with music composed by Jamie xx.⁠

The stage design uses intricate sets of reflective, transparent, and refractive surfaces and coloured light to create a dynamic, ever-evolving, and complexly layered space in which the dancers are multiplied and overlap. Lights panning over the audience cause its spectral image to appear on the stage's reflective, coloured scrims, integrating the viewers with the activity on the stage. Triggered by Jonathan Safran Foer’s 'Tree of Codes' (an artwork in the form of a book, which was in turn inspired by Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz), this new, evening-length work features a company of soloists from the Paris Opera Ballet and dancers from Wayne McGregor Random Dance (Photo: Joel Chester Fildes; Opera House, Manchester, 2015).

your_hesitant_kaleidorama (1080p)-SoMe

'Your hesitant kaleidorama' is the second kaleidorama in the exhibition ‘Olafur Eliasson: Orizzonti tremanti / Trembling horizons’, Castello di Rivoli' that focuses exclusively on the optical phenomenon of light flares in lens systems. The structure, attached to the wall along one mirrored side, is tilted downward toward viewers, who face the curved screen straight on. Reflected by the two abutting mirror panels, the optically enlarged mirrored space seems to expand down and away from the viewer in three dimensions. On the wall behind the screen, a wooden box with a slowly rotating arrangement of lenses and colour-effect filters refocuses a spotlight beam onto the rear of the screen. Coronas and tinted ellipses of light — usually considered as optical aberrations in photography or film — here instead become the focus in a complex, ever-changing display of shapes and shadows (video: SHIMURAbros / music: Olafur Eliasson and Petur Hallgrimsson).⁠ ⁠

Rainbow assembly, 2016 - A film by SHIMURAbros

Excerpt of @SHIMURABros' film ‘Rainbow assembly’, 2016, from Olafur’s solo exhibition ‘The parliament of possibilities’, 2016–17, at Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul. Within a darkened space, multiple spotlights illuminate a circular curtain of fine mist. From certain perspectives, a shimmering rainbow can be seen in the falling water; it shifts in intensity or disappears as the viewer approaches or moves away.

Your sound galaxy, The unspeakable openness of things, Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, 2018

'Your sound galaxy', 2012, suspends a group of twenty-seven polyhedrons from the ceiling in two horizontally concentric circles. Each polyhedron is made of a stainless steel frame clad in mirrored glass that has been turned inward so that the blue-grey backs of the mirrors act as the faces of the solid. A single halogen light mounted inside each polyhedron is multiplied by the reflective interior into a twinkling glow that escapes through the gaps in the frames.⁠ Previously shown at Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing 2018 (video: SHIMURAbros / music: afewnote).

Fjordenhus

It’s been five years since the completion of Fjordenhus, the first building designed by Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann for Kirk Kapital.⁠ Rising out of the water, Fjordenhus was created to forge a new connection between Vejle Fjord and the city centre of Vejle. The fjord flows directly through the building inviting in the elements – the wind, water, harbour, land, and the changing weather. The building brings together years of research in diverse fields into one project – urban space, light conditions, nature, physical movement, and how we use our senses. Fjordenhus melds artistic and architectural vision, incorporating site-specific artworks by Eliasson with specially designed furniture and lighting.

Installation view - Lunds Konsthall, Sweden, 2005 - Photo: Terje Östling

In 2005, Olafur’s exhibition 'The light setup’ at Lund Konsthall showcased various experiments employing ingenious technical solutions, turning the exhibition space into something reminiscent of a laboratory or artist's studio where visitors can not only study the techniques involved but even experiment themselves. Presenting the constructions as an important aspect of the works is a way of deliberately demystifying the phenomena that the visitor encounters and helps to break down their seemingly sensational aspects. Olafur thus invites visitors to be aware of their own vision and to take an active part in creating and experiencing the works. We become partners in creating the images that are generated.⁠

Image: Installation view of 'The light setup’ at Lunds Konsthall, Sweden, in 2005 (photo: Terje Östling).

Weather orb, 2020 - Kunsthaus Zürich – 2020 - Photo: Franca Candrian

Four layers of progressively more complex polyhedrons form the framework structure of 'Weather orb'. The core is an icosahedron, a Platonic solid with twenty triangular faces, and the framework expands exponentially from one layer to the next, ending in the outermost layer composed of octagons, hexagons, squares, and decagons. Many of the polyhedrons’ faces are filled by either polarised filters or special plastic panes that interact to produce a range of tones. The combination of materials and the various angles and shapes of the faces create a complex interplay of light, colour, and shades of grey. Viewers’ movement around the work changes the alignment of the various panes, causing new colours and tones to emerge and vanish within the form.⁠

Images: ‘Weather orb’, 2020; previously installed at Kunsthaus Zürich in 2020 (photo: Franca Candrian).

Today leaning into tomorrow, yesterday leaning into today, 2023 - Studio Olafur Eliasson, Berlin  – 2023 - Photo: Jens Ziehe

Olafur Eliasson has long been inspired by the inherent visual confusion of the ellipse, which, depending on the context, can produce an illusion of a circular disc viewed in perspective. Here, the ellipses shift simultaneously upon their axes, creating the sense that the disc is rotating and tumbling at the same time.⁠
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Image: 'Today leaning into tomorrow, yesterday leaning into today', 2023 (photo: Jens Ziehe).

Your fivefold vanishing points, 2023 - Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023 - Photo: Ander Sune Berg
Five circular mirrors, positioned at the corners of an invisible pentagon, produce a surprising environment of multilayered, tunnel-like reflected spaces. Eliasson frequently uses mirrors to expand spaces and evoke a subtle sense of disorientation. When viewers stand within the circle of mirrors, they see themselves and the others around them in a subtly strange, new way, recurring again and again from unexpected angles. The different hues of the surrounding curtains correspond to the cold tones of the visible spectrum – blue to cyan to green. The mirrors re-mix the familiar progression, conjuring a series of colourful concentric circles, each with its own sequence of tones.

Image: ‘Your fivefold vanishing points', 2023; currently on show as part of Olafur’s solo exhibition 'Olafur Eliasson: The curious desert’, Al Thakhira Mangrove Nature Preserve and Qatar Museums - the National Museum of Qatar, Doha, until 15 August 2023 (photo: Anders Sune Berg).⁠
Olafur Eliasson in ‘The living lighthouse’, 2023; in ‚The curious desert‘, Qatar - Museums - NMOQ in Doha.

Video: Olafur in ‘The living lighthouse’, 2023; currently on show as part of Olafur’s solo exhibition 'The curious desert‘, near the Al Thakhira Mangrove Nature Preserve and Qatar Museums - the National Museum of Qatar, Doha.

The living lighthouse, 2023 - Tcd (4) - National Museum of Qatar, Doha - Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Broad bands of colour crawl across the walls of this circular room, wrapping visitors in a vibrant installation of ever-changing fields of light. The circular construction responsible for ‘The living lighthouse’ contains panes of coloured glass, colour filters, and shutters that turn steadily on motors as they are illuminated by spotlights from within. ⁠

The colourful shadows move along the walls, overlap, and give rise to secondary and tertiary hues. Visitors’ silhouettes dance among the waves of light and colour, causing new shades and forms to cascade about the room. The disorienting curtain of moving light incorporates the walls and surrounding space into the artwork, transforming the exhibition gallery from a container for art into an object of attention in itself.⁠

Image: ‘The living lighthouse’, 2023; currently on show as part of Olafur’s solo exhibition 'Olafur Eliasson: The curious desert’, near the Al Thakhira Mangrove Nature Preserve and Qatar Museums - the National Museum of Qatar, Doha, until 15 August 2023 (photo: Anders Sune Berg).⁠
Installation view, the curious desert - Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023 - Photo: Anders Sune Berg
'Your oil-spill garden’, 2023, similar to ‘Your glacial-dust garden’ and ‘Your obsidian garden’, this work features a material taken from one context and transported to the current location: tar residue that lay on a beach in Qatar as a result of oil spill, both naturally occurring and human-caused. As in the other works, the tar was brought here and arranged in a circle. These three pavilions can be understood in relation to one another thematically. Each reflects one of the massive forces shaping our planet: volcanism, the retreat of the glaciers and finally the petroleum pollution resulting from human extraction of carbon fuels.⁠

Algae window, 2020 - Tcd - National Museum of Qatar, Doha – 2023 - Photo: Anders Sune Berg

Inside the National Museum of Qatar, an extensive presentation of works from throughout Olafur’s career invites viewers to situate themselves anew in relation to expansive light installations, photo series from Iceland, complex geometric studies, watercolours, optical devices, and a sprawling research map. ⁠

Image: 'Algae window', 2020; Currently showing as part of 'Olafur Eliasson: The curious desert'; Open from today, until 15 August 2023; Near the Al Thakhira Mangrove Nature Preserve and Qatar Museums - the National Museum of Qatar, Doha (photo: Anders Sune Berg).⁠

Rainbow incubator, 2023 - Tcd - near the Al Thakhira Mangrove in Northern Qatar - Photo: Ali Faisal Al Anssari

'It is an extraordinary opportunity to create artworks for the sabkha near Al Thakhira Mangrove Reserve. The sun, the wind, the nearby lagoon saltwater – they all help co-produce the artworks that visitors will encounter here. I hope the artworks in turn may sensitise people to the singular landscape and to the more-than-human agencies at work. The other half of my exhibition, at the National Museum of Qatar, is an assembly of embodied thoughts and actions from over 25 years of working as an artist. These two naturalcultural sites enrich each other – together they make up "The curious desert."' - Olafur ⁠on his solo exhibition, 'The curious desert'. Open from today, until 15 August 2023; Near the Al Thakhira Mangrove Nature Preserve and Qatar Museums - the National Museum of Qatar, Doha (photo: Ali Faisal Al Anssari).⁠ 

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https://vimeo.com/808229007/f4d003ba63

 

Today, the film ‘Olafur Eliasson, Shadows travelling on the sea of the day’ airs at The Fire Station in Doha, and can be watched in full over on the SOE tv channel.  ⁠

Following the creation of Olafur's installation commissioned for the desert near the Ain Mohammed heritage site in Northern Qatar,  ‘Olafur Eliasson, Shadows travelling on the sea of the day’ captures Olafur's longstanding exploration of the interplay between human perception and the natural world, with conversations between Her Excellency Sheikha Al-Mayassa and key members of Studio Olafur Eliasson.⁠

In the words of the artist: 'Shadows travelling on the sea of the day, 2022, is an invitation to resync with the planet. It is a celebration of everything being in and moving through the desert site north of Doha at the time of your visit – animals, plants, and human beings; stories, traditions, and cultural artefacts; wind, sunlight, air, and shimmering heat.'

The film is the first of a two-part series – the second will provide insight into the creation of Eliasson's upcoming solo exhibition 'The curious desert' at The National Museum of Qatar, opening on 19 March.⁠ Credit: 'Olafur Eliasson, Shadows travelling on the sea of the day’ is a Tigerlily Productions for Studio Olafur Eliasson and Qatar Museums.

'Your timekeeping window', 2022; Previously shown at Olafur’s ‘Nel tuo tempo’ at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence.⁠

https://vimeo.com/805557163/fdbff28447

'Your timekeeping window', 2022; Previously shown at Olafur’s ‘Nel tuo tempo’ at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence.⁠

In this room of the palazzo, a new wall covering the historical windows is mounted with twenty-four glass spheres arranged in a circle. With the original glass panes masked, the light from outside—as well as the view beyond—is now visible only through the spheres, which act as a lens. Through the process of optical refraction, the scene rendered in each of the twenty-four spheres appears upside down, creating a compound image of the environment that lies just beyond the palazzo’s exterior (video: Thefactoryprd).

Your blind movement, 2010 - Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, 2010 - Photo: Jens Ziehe

Fluorescent lights in red, green and blue are set above the exhibition hall. By placing them next to one another, the colours blend together throughout the hall. The changing-colour effect is heightened by the addition of fog, which enhances the colours of the lights overhead.⁠

Images: 'Your blind movement', 2010. Previously installed in Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin in 2010 (photos: Jens Ziehe).⁠

Eye see you, 2006 - Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence – 2022 - Photo: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio. Courtesy Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence

A monofrequency bulb is mounted at the center of a mirror-polished bowl, which emits a bright light. In front of the bulb, two dichromatic glass disks are installed, which change colour according to the viewer’s position and movement. Visitors and surroundings alike are reflected in the glass disks, which also creates a gentle moiré effect.

Last week to see ‘Eye see you’, 2006. Part of Olafur’s solo exhibition ‘Nel tuo tempo’ is on view at Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, until 22 January 2023 (photo: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio).

I only see when I move, 2001 - St. Louis, Missouri, 2001 - Photo: Jennifer Dorsey

Round, monochromatic, illuminated boxes are attached at the level of the windows on the trains in a subway tunnel. Depending upon the speed of the trains, the different heights and colours of the lights create the impression of a coloured sine wave, which contains all the colours of the spectrum.⁠

Image: ‘I only see when I move’, 2001. Previously installed in St. Louis, Missouri in 2001 (photo: Jennifer Dorsey).⁠

The glacierhouse effect versus the greenhouse effect, 2005 - Private collection, Santa Fe, 2006 – 2005 - Photo: Andrew Gellatly

'The glacierhouse effect versus the greenhouse effect’, 2005 is constructed of steel tubes that form a spiral structure. When temperatures drop below freezing, typically during winter nights, water is sprinkled at intervals from the oculus at the top of the pavilion. The water freezes as it runs down the latticework frame, tracing the contours of the spiralling surface and coating the metal tubes with ice. During the daytime, when temperatures often climb above freezing, the ice begins to melt, dripping down the turret before freezing again into new formations at night. In the work’s desert environment, there is very little rain. To cover the pavilion with ice in the winter months, a complex system was established to collect water from various roofs and lead it to an underground container, where it remains until temperatures drop below freezing again (photos: Andrew Gellatly).

Colour experiment no. 109 - The Frick Collection, New York City – 2022 - Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr

The Frick Collection presents an installation inspired by the institution’s acclaimed ‘Diptych publication series’. In conjunction with a Diptych focused on Claude Monet’s ‘Vétheuil in Winter’, the Frick is installing an artwork created for the occasion by Olafur alongside the Monet painting, one of the museum’s few Impressionist works.

Image: Left, Claude Monet’s ‘Vétheuil in Winter’, 1878−79 and ‘Colour experiment no. 109’, 2020 (photo: Joseph Coscia Jr)

'Under the weather', 2022, as part of 'Nel tuo tempo' at Palazzo Strozzi

Upon entering the courtyard of the palazzo, visitors encounter a large elliptical screen hanging above them. The screen, which appears to flicker and change as visitors move around the courtyard, presents a moiré pattern. This effect occurs wherever two or more similar patterns are overlaid and clash. It is familiar as an artifact in print and on screen, and, in the physical world, in meshes, fences, and facades. As visitors move about, the pattern appears to change with their shifting perspectives, encouraging them to move around even more. ⁠

Video: ‘Under the weather’, 2022, is part of Olafur’s exhibition ‘Nel tuo tempo’ is on view Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, until 22 January 2023 (video: Thefactoryprd).

Navigation star for utopia, 2022 - Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea – 2022 - Photo: Agostino Osio

‘Olafur Eliasson: Orizzonti tremanti / Trembling horizons' at Castello di Rivoli opens with ‘Navigation star for utopia‘, a luminous work with beams of coloured light shining across the environment and drawing light effects, almost suggesting an orientation tool for the future (photo: Agostino Osio).

Your power kaleidorama - Castello di Rivoli, Turin – 2022 - Photo: Agostino Osio

‘Olafur Eliasson: Orizzonti tremanti / Trembling horizons' opens at Castello di Rivoli on 3rd November. The exhibition transforms the Manica Lunga wing of Castello di Rivoli by installing a new series of immersive wedge-shaped optical device-like artworks in the long gallery. Inside each, the viewer can watch complex patterns unfold in fluid motion within a 360-degree panoramic space that seems more expansive than physically possible – optical illusions created through mirrors and light projections.

Image: ‘Your power kaleidorama', 2022 (photo: Agostino Osio).

Image used on Blog post '2024' (from S3)

At Studio Olafur Eliasson, testing light projections for 'Olafur Eliasson: Orizzonti tremanti (Trembling horizons)’, curated by Marcella Beccaria. Opening this week at Castello di Rivoli, from 3 November 2022. (photo: Tegan Emerson / Studio Olafur Eliasson).

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