Changing perceptions

Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life
Tate Modern, London, UK
11 July 2019 – 5 January 2020

Olafur Eliasson is one of the most compelling artists working today, so I didn’t want to let this exhibition at Tate Modern go unmentioned, even if it’s no longer on view.

As we entered the exhibition, the first room we stepped into was the model room. In a dim, atmospheric light, Eliasson presented around 450 models, prototypes and geometric studies behind glass. They record years of collaboration between his studio team and the Icelandic artist, mathematician and architect Einar Thorsteinn (1942–2015). Many of the shapes were instantly recognisable from Eliasson’s sculptures and pavilions. I was mesmerised by the sheer variety of forms, textures and materials on display — paper, wood, rubber balls, Lego, wire. I found myself wishing I could shrink down and wander through this magical landscape.

The following room focused on his early works, where his fascination with nature and weather becomes immediately clear. My favourite piece here was Moss Wall (1994), a monumental abstract work made from Scandinavian reindeer lichen. It brings an unexpected fragment of nature right into the gallery. Its texture and colour completely captivated me; I stood in front of it for quite some time, absorbing its intricate details. It felt like stepping back into nature, but within the shelter of the museum.

Then came his kaleidoscopes, which he has been creating since the mid-1990s. For Eliasson, they’re not simply playful toys but devices that reconfigure what we see, merging inside and outside space and dissolving the boundary between the gallery and the world beyond. (The Art Blackberry and I as The Art Blueberry can be seen interacting with the artworks below.)

As we continued, we encountered his glacial works. Eliasson’s childhood visits to Iceland forged a personal connection to the climate crisis, especially as he witnessed the melting of glaciers firsthand. He documented these changes in a series of photographs begun in 1999 and completed twenty years later, in 2019. The transformations in the landscape are striking.

Other works also address environmental change. In Glacial Currents (2018), pieces of glacial ice were placed directly onto washes of coloured pigment. And The Presence of Absence Pavilion (2019), a bronze cast, makes palpable the hollow space left behind by a chunk of ice after it has melted. An Australian friend joined us as a Guest Berry in these photos, and you can see her hand through this work below. Thanks Amy!

Another powerful project was Ice Watch, staged outside Tate Modern in 2018. It consisted of ice blocks brought from Greenland, giving passersby the rare opportunity to witness Arctic ice melting before their eyes. The ice had been fished from a fjord after breaking away from the ice sheet — something that is happening more frequently due to global warming, contributing to rising sea levels.

Olafur Eliasson, a Danish-Icelandic artist, works across sculpture, large-scale installation, photography and painting. His materials range from moss and glacial meltwater to light, fog and even air temperature — all harnessed to heighten the viewer’s experience. His main interests revolve around nature, geometry and a continual investigation into how we perceive, feel and shape the world around us. The viewer’s experience is, in many ways, the very core of his practice.

Ultimately, Eliasson believes that art can have a tangible impact beyond the museum walls — and I couldn’t agree more. His Berlin studio brings together technicians, architects, archivists, designers, filmmakers, cooks, administrators and many others, collaborating across fields to address issues such as sustainable energy and climate change. As an artist, he is determined to shift our perceptions of the environment and to imagine a more sustainable future. If more people shared these concerns, I believe the world would be a far better place to live in.