I like that Eliasson takes art to the streets, yet does so on such a large scale that his works make an unmistakable impression on the viewer. Though Eliasson worries about his spectacles becoming "tourist attractions," what I find most interesting about his work is that it is simultaneously accessible and provocative. And it isn't provocative in the "look at me, I'm flipping off hundreds of years of art theory and take that I learned how to draw a face like the masters but I'm going to paint a canvas white and you'll hang it in your modern art museum" way (which, don't get me wrong, completely has its place)...Eliasson creates visceral experiences grand enough to foster some serious dialogue but not without depth. And I think that's super cool.
But really, I just want Olafur to follow me around and build giant waterfalls around me.
ps. did the link work???? did it did it???
2 comments:
Congratulations on mad linking skill. His work sounds interesting. I'd be interested to experience some it first-hand. But, and this largely grows out of the fact that I am in a very uncertain part of my life, but I can't help but wonder more about how he got started all those years ago in Berlin, in a place which he describes as having no real place for it. All of the works that are mentioned in the interview seem to require a large investment of capital; I am curious what kinds of projects that he worked on before he had access to that kind of funding.
Good question. I actually can't find much information in terms of how he got started out, aside from the fact that he went to at the Royal Danish Academy of Art, collaborated with some architect folk on huge scale projects, and turned lots of rivers green. I don't know where he got the financial backing to do such projects, nor how he funds his current art factory.
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