OLAFUR ELIASSON
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1967. Eliasson made his name known worldwide with “The Weather Project” he presented at the Tate Modern in 2003. A giant orange light imitating the sun was hung in a hall filled with artificial fog, and people were lying on the floor looking up to the vague reflections of themselves in the mirror that covered the entire ceiling. Eliasson’s works always require light, space, and the viewer’s eye. He placed people in a simulated environment by artificially reproducing or imitating natural phenomena. Global climate, environment problems, and energy issues are also directly connected to his artworks. At the Studio Olafur Eliasson located in Berlin, it is not only a production space of his artworks, but also serves as a base for his research on spatial cognition, which is the motivation of his works and for addressing environmental issue.
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Title: Eye see you
Year: 2006
Medium: stainless steel, aluminum, color-effect filter glass, monofrequency bulb
Dimensions: 230 x 120 x 110 cm (90 1/2 x 47 1/4 x 43 1/4 in.) -
Title: Black Quasi Bricks
Year: 2003
Medium: Clay and glazing
Dimensions: 20.3 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm (8 x 9 x 9 in.)
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Eye see you
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Year: 2006This is an installation work created by Eliasson in 2006, presenting artworks using light as a medium of expression. In “The weather project,” which was exhibited at Tate Modern in London in 2003, Eliasson used mono-frequency light to repaint all visible light in the space yellow. In its location of the former power plant, the work was an artificial representation of the sun, a symbol of energy for humans. While the natural world is gifted with full of colors from the wide range of frequencies in sunlight, the mono-frequency light used in this work has a nature of extremely narrow frequency range. Thus, the natural colors of the objects that are exposed to this light cannot be perceived properly. Eliasson urges viewers to relate to a kind of empathy by placing restrictions on this heavenly gift of light from the sky that equally pours on all nature. Everyone who stands in front of this work equally loses their differences shown by clothing and skin color. Through sharing this unique environment, viewers are given the possibility to be freed from any attributes and to face each other again as truly equal human beings.
Medium: stainless steel, aluminum, color-effect filter glass, mono-frequency bulb
Dimensions: 230 x 120 x 110 cm (90 1/2 x 47 1/4 x 43 1/4 in.)
Edition: No. 24 of 30
Acquired from Gallery Koyanagi, 2022
Photo: ERIC
Photo courtesy of Organizing Committee for Yokohama Triennale
Installation view, Yokohama Triennale 2017
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Black Quasi Bricks
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Year: 2003A ceramic block work by Eliasson, who is known as an artist who manipulates light. Variations of “Quasi Brick” are frequently used among large scale wall installations and commissioned works. One of his famous pieces is “Quasi brick wall” (2002) located in the garden of Fundacion NMAC in Spain. It is a large wall made of mirrored polyhedral blocks, capturing the sunlight, the green of the trees, and the blue of the sky. Eliasson is also developing projects to examine and practice sustainability and renewability through his own works. A wall surface is created by combining many single blocks, and this combination creates a phenomenon that could not occur with just a block unit. Just as the meaning of the word “Quasi = as if” suggests, a block unit may “appear” to be one independent entity, but in fact its true value is demonstrated by the combination. This is the essence of human society.
Medium: Clay and glazing
Dimensions: 20.3 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm (8 x 9 x 9 in.)
Edition: No.22, 23, 24 and 25 of 30
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022