Modem Mag / Highlights
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art
Olafur Eliasson: Inner City Out, Berlinpublished : May 28 2010
category : highlights
Olafur Eliasson’s exhibition stimulates a sense of wonder through a series of works that play with perceptual possibilities. Each lends itself to an experience, inspiring a sense of awe and surprise or even deliberate disorientation.
Born in Copenhagen, Eliasson has been based in Berlin since 1995 and, although he has exhibited widely, this is one of his few shows in Germany. As with much of his work, the visitor’s active participation is of vital importance. For instance, ‘Your Uncertain Shadow (colour)’ comprises halogen lamps with variously coloured bulbs on the floor and a white projection screen; as you walk across the room, your moving shadow is projected in a combination of flickering colours.
Elsewhere, a pumped hose lit by a strobe shoots water through the air, spraying visitors in a pitch-black room. And in a room lit with fluorescent lights, the visitor is blinded by fog, feeling momentarily trapped, lost and confused.
Another new work is ‘Mikroskop’; the outside features erected scaffolding while inside is a grey corridor with mirrored walls that give a sensation of rippling, infinite reflections while distorting notions of space. The work explores the relationship between the inside and outside, a theme that is central to the exhibition.
Much of Eliasson’s work is about sensorial experiences, and his suspended ‘New Berlin Sphere’ made from cleverly coloured glass casts shimmering shadows of light onto the walls and ceiling. It’s an uplifting piece that makes you smile.
Photo Credit : Your uncertain shadow (colour) © 2010 Olafur Eliasson
Halogen lamps, glass, aluminium - Dimensions variable
Photo: Jens Ziehe
Courtesy the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
April 29th-August 9th, 2010
Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin
Niederkirchnerstraße 7
10963 Berlin
Tel.+49 (0)30 254 860
www.berlinerfestspiele.de
Anna Sansom ©modemonline