olafur eliasson dances behind light installation in his berlin studio for peggy gou’s music video

Olafur Eliasson stars and directs Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11

Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson break dances inside a light installation at his studio in Berlin for the new Peggy Gou’s song and music video, 1+1=11. Olafur Eliasson didn’t only star in Peggy Gou’s music video, but he himself directed 1+1=11 as part of their three-part collaborations.

The second comes through the debut album release from the South Korean-born, Berlin-based producer and artist titled ‘I Hear You’ where she’s seen wearing Olafur Eliasson’s Psychoacoustic empathy amp (2023), the dubbed ‘ring of ears.’ A cherry on top, the album’s opening song ‘Your Art’ has Peggy Gou reciting her own rendition of Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Your planet seen from within’ poem, written to accompany his 2022 TIME magazine cover story.

Peggy Gou’s debut album ‘I Hear You’ with the artist wearing Olafur Eliasson’s Psychoacoustic empathy amp (2023) | image courtesy of Studio Olafur Eliasson, video stills courtesy of Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11, via Youtube

Olafur eliasson breakdancing in Peggy Gou’s music video

Somehow, when Olafur Eliasson starts dancing behind the pink-shaded light installation in his Berlin studio, the colors and his movement may recall his 2010 artwork, Your uncertain shadow (colour). In this light installation, anyone who crosses and moves in front of the neon-like lighting gets projected in a spectrum of colors on the walls. Even their height and build change as they move back and forth, similar to the way Olafur Eliasson played with the light installation in his Berlin studio for Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 music video.

Olafur Eliasson at the beginning of Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 music video

In Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 music video, Olafur Eliasson is seen gliding, popping, and moving like a robot inside a light installation at his studio in Berlin. He crosses through beams of light from eight projectors, each of a different hue, and the light installation emits colorful shadows and silhouettes that overlap and cascade across the wall. Peggy Gou herself also appears in the artist’s studio among the geometric models, lights, and mirrors, holding aloft a polarizing disc that becomes alternately transparent and dark as she turns it.

Olafur Eliasson break dances inside a light installation at his studio in Berlin

‘Street dance enabled me to explore the space of my body’

Olafur Eliasson and Peggy Gou are longtime friends, so it may not be a surprise to have the Icelandic-Danish artist star and direct the South Korean-born musician’s new music video, and collaborate with him for her debut album’s cover. Beyond his grand oeuvre, starring and breakdancing in 1+1=11 music video only relieves and awakens the dance-enlivened teenager self of Olafur Eliasson.

Olafur Eliasson didn’t only star in Peggy Gou’s music video, but he himself directed 1+1=11

He says that when he was a teenager, breakdancing changed his life. ‘I was into popping, moving like a robot, and doing the electric boogie. Street dance enabled me to explore the space of my body in relation to the world around me. I came to realize that by moving, I could change space. I could change what I saw and what I sensed. And these experiences proved foundational for my later artistic work,’ says Olafur Eliasson.

in Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 music video, Olafur Eliasson is seen gliding, popping, and moving like a robot

For Olafur Eliasson, sculpture and dance are both non-verbal languages. ‘Sometimes, in order to communicate, you simply have to move. That’s what happened when I first met Peggy. We were having lunch, talking about our shared interests in psychosonics, rhythm, and movement, and to show her the moves I was talking about, I stood up in the restaurant to dance,’ says Olafur Eliasson.

view of the light installation and studio of Olafur Eliasson for Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 music video

Olafur Eliasson adds that ‘I was thrilled that she (Peggy Gou) later asked me to dance on video for one of her upcoming releases and to develop the visual language for it. By bringing together dance – embodied exploration of space – with colorful shadows, lights, and mirrors, I was able to bring some of the key interests that have long shaped my art into an entirely new context.’ Peggy Gou’s 1+1=11 is now live and can be watched here.