Olafur Eliasson is a Danish new media artist that uses light, shadow, unique geometries, intense colors, and natural elements in his works. His work is surprisingly beautiful and interesting. He commands a masterful balance of getting the works message across, without it being too much of a spectacle. I think this is a common thread in his works. He engages the audience with a spectacle that isn’t awfully over-powered or gaudy. Most of his works I would consider successful for this reason.

In an installation at the Tate Modern in London called “The Weather Project”, Eliasson hangs a glowing artificial sun in the large open concourse. The ceiling is lined with mirrors and the atmosphere is filled with a milky mist that radiates a warm orange-yellow glow everywhere. Visitors bask in, what in photos seems to be, the warm embrace of his creation. The perceived warmth is actually deceiving since the indoor sun doesn’t emit any heat at all. Never the less, the Londoner visitors still sit and bask in his illusion just to forget about the dreary fog of the outside world. I really like the fact that this installation is placed in such a large public space and can be enjoyed by so many people at once. This I think can make a piece more memorable, when it’s a shared experience, even when they’re strangers.

Elisson’s work with geometric installations is another corner stone in his pieces. A staircase he did called Umschreibung (Rewriting), isn’t pure geometry, but represents the geometry of the infinite loop. Some times you move up, sometimes down, but you really never go anywhere but along the stair. I’d imagine that many people wouldn’t consider climbing such a staircase, because it really leads to nowhere. But that’s probably not the fact. I know if I was in that courtyard, I’d be intrigued to climb up and down. Maybe Olafur is trying to convey that it’s not the destination, but the journey that’s important. And I don’t think this piece could’ve been successful if he didn’t make the journey an interesting one.