Beauty, Olafur Eliasson, 1993

When asked about his art works, Olafur Eliasson says, “I think in my work, the way you engage in the work is very constitutional for what you then see or perceive or experience.” I think that that is a very fundamental idea to all of Olafur Eliasson’s works of art. His works constantly invite the viewer to not just see the piece as one would a painting, but to experience the works; to become a part of the environment.

Olafur experiments with this idea in many ways. He creates pieces such as Beauty, which is a dark room that has a spotlight near the ceiling and a fine mist of water showering down to the floor. The spotlight shining through the water creates a rainbow, which not only is incredibly beautiful, but is also completely interactive and unique to each person. Not only can you walk through the rainbow; touch the water; feel it on your skin, but also the rainbow appears in slightly different places within the room depending on the perspective of the person looking at it. Beauty was my favorite piece of Eliasson’s that I saw at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The thing that I find most intriguing about Eliasson’s work is the idea that his works are so collective, so universal. Whether he is creating an artificial, yet stunningly beautiful, environment, or augmenting the actual environment by creating waterfalls off of man-made bridges, Eliasson never fails to create incredibly interesting experiences that are meant to be experienced as a group; unifying his diverse audience.

I enjoyed seeing, feeling and being in Olafur Eliasson’s works at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to experience the works of such a unique artist.