Olafur Elaisson Exhibit Reflection
On Saturday, September 12, I had the opportunity to attend Olafur Elaisson’s art exhibit in Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition to the visit being my first trip to Chicago, it was also my first “real” art show. I had been exposed to art and museums in the past, but I had never attended the showing of one artist’s works. To be honest, after being presented with Elaisson’s pieces, I truly had to pause to digest and interpret what I thought to be his message and the arguments he projected. For one thing, I am sure of the fact that from this experience I have a shifted perspective of how we as people relate to art and nature within the confinements of our day to day world.
I am a firm believer that the things that make us most uncomfortable or unaware have the greatest potential to teach us and help us develop as individuals. Initially, a few of Elaisson’s pieces struck me as odd or even commonplace to be frank. Yet, I tried to take Elaisson’s exhibit title into consideration: “Take Your Time.” I decided to linger on the pieces I couldn’t initially relate to or understand in order to gain a better perspective of his message. First, there was an exhibit where a regular fan was hanging from a cable which was attached to the ceiling in a room with four white walls. The first impression I had was that this wasn’t a work of art, it was a fix-it job gone wrong. However, I tried to maintain an open mind and after watching the swaying of the fan and the unpredictable motions it made, I think I began to realize that Elaisson was trying to make us more aware of our bodies in relation to the fan in relation to the space of the room. So often, we become complacent with daily routines and don’t take the time to consider things from alternative perspectives. Elaisson took an ordinary fan and translated it into something that shifted your vantage point and made you reconsider your position in the room – not the fan’s.
Another display that actually made me giggle when I first viewed it was Elaisson’s moss covered wall. I entered a room with three white walls, and instantly thought the fourth wall was covered in some earthy yellow shade of shaggy carpet. Much to my surprise, the “carpet” had a noticeably distinct smell to it. On closer inspection, the carpet was actually moss. As I inched forward, it transformed before my eyes. I no longer saw a tangle of yellow moss, but rather individual tiny treetops – almost like a little world within a vast jungle that dominated the wall. Despite my initial response to the piece, after I had given it the opportunity to impress itself upon me, I realized Elaisson had done something quite unique. In this unconventional work, he brought something belonging entirely to nature indoors which allowed the viewer to see it in all its complexity. It also provided a chance for reflection on one’s own relationship to nature which can continuously change, especially with the knowledge that the moss itself would evolve over the period of the exhibit. Nature, much like humans, is constantly changing.
Finally, I’d like to touch on the piece that struck me as being the most profound in Elaisson’s exhibit. When we first arrived, there was a tunnel that I thought you had to walk through in order to arrive at the exhibits. Little did I know that this tunnel was actually the first piece of Elaisson’s that I would experience. Plain white walls were flooded in neon orange light emanating from fluorescent tubes on the ceiling. When one entered the tunnel, the wavelengths of light being emitted from the light bulbs counteracted with the way one’s eyes perceive color, and everything and everyone within became a pallet of black and white. Essentially, we became the exhibit. Yet it was an indescribable sensation to lose your coloring. Elaisson puts you in a situation where you become the same as everyone around you; the only distinction then, is what truly is you. Your personality, your mannerisms, your thought process. It is such an odd experience that takes time to wrap your mind around. Yet I felt that even despite losing physical coloring, I still could observe people’s emotional coloring. That is what makes people who they are, and that is how I interpreted Elaisson’s message for that work. Thinking of people we either personally interact with or someone walking down the street can be done in a completely alternative way. It is possible to identify and describe someone’s character without ever having analyzed, judged, or even seen their physical character.
On another note, I felt that this art exhibit really stood alone from readings and video clips we have analyzed in class. Elaisson focused on shifting perspectives for the viewer, but did find ways to relate his art to nature and technology. I did feel though that many of Elaisson’s photographs – such as the horizons, the mouths of caves, and the outstanding boulders protruding from the seas – projected a pastoral view of nature. He seemed to project much of what he photographed as being idyllic, similar to how Marx perceived nature in American writing. After considering Marx and Elaisson’s view of nature, they both seem to agree on enjoying nature as a “freedom from the grip of the external world.”
Elaisson’s exhibit was honestly something far out of the realms of my comfort zone. I felt mentally and emotionally fatigued after viewing it, mainly because the pieces took you to unfamiliar areas of thought and experience. However, I am thankful that I had the opportunity to witness something as perspective shattering as his exhibit. His works open new realms for thought.
Food For Thought:
- How can nature be a constant driving force in our lives if it is always changing and evolving?
- In what other ways can we be reminded to shift our perspectives in order to learn more about our world?
- Is there ever a “wrong” interpretation of art?