Young sculptor, photographer and installation artist Olafur Eliasson creates works that explore the relationship between nature and technology. Based in Berlin, the artist rebuilds in the gallery fragments of the environment: icebergs at the MusÈe d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 'windmills' at the Louisiana Museum in Humlebaek, Denmark. For Eliasson, immaterial sensations such as temperature, smell, taste, air and magnetic waves become sculptural elements when presented in an art context. Nominated in 2002 for the prestigious Hugo Boss prize, Eliasson has become a favourite in recent Biennales of contemporary art.
Scandinavian curator Daniel Birnbaum discusses with the artist the role of location and the immediate environment in both his gallery (indoor) and remote-site (outdoor) work. In her Survey curator Madeleine Grynsztejn examines the unique position of this new international art star who overlaps architectural, technological and artistic innovation. Architecture theorist Michael Speaks looks at the artist's Green River (1998), particularly in relation to Antonioni's 1964 film, Red Desert. For his Artist's Choice the artist has selected an extract from Henri Bergson's Creative Evolution (1907) dealing with our subjective, visual response to nature - a central theme in the artist's own work. Olafur Eliasson's writings include essays on such topics as the weather and colour, as well as an open letter entitled 'Dear Everybody', addressed to the viewers moving through his artwork.
