olafur eliasson: in real life exposes the artist's commitment to today's urgent issues

back in 2003, olafur eliasson took over london’s tate modern with his world-renowned installation the weather project. sixteen years later, eliasson returns with a massive retrospective where audiences will be able to discover the full range of his practice spanning three decades. bringing together around 40 works — almost all of which have never been seen in the UK, including some created specifically for the exhibition — olafur eliasson: in real life is an unmissable experience that showcases the artist’s commitment to exposing some of today’s most urgent issues.

in 2017, olafur eliasson was awarded THE DESIGN PRIZE in the EXPERIMENTATION category for the little sun project.

waterfall, 2019
scaffolding, water, wood, plastic sheet, aluminium, pump, hose
courtesy the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york / los angeles
installation view: tate modern, london
photo: anders sune berg
© 2019 olafur eliasson

natural phenomena such as water, light and mist have been key subjects eliasson has been investigating throughout his career. found outside at the tate’s terrace, waterfall 2019 is a new installation measuring over 11 meters in height. once inside, visitors will encounter moss wall 1994 — a 20-meter-wide plane covered with scandinavian reindeer moss; beauty 1993 which materializes the natural phenomenon of a rainbow inside the exhibition; and din blinde passager (your blind passenger) 2010, which offers a visceral journey through a 39-metre-long corridor full of dense fog.

olafur eliasson
in real life, 2019
aluminium, colour-effect filter glass (green, yellow, orange, red, pink, cyan), led light
installation view: olafur eliasson: in real life tate modern, london, 2019
photo: anders sune berg
courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york / los angeles
© 2019 olafur eliasson

the show continues with works that address the impact humans have on the environment, including a series of photographs of iceland’s glaciers taken by the artist in 1999. this will be replaced in the autumn by a new artwork that incorporates the old series alongside photos taken 20 years on, exposing the changes in this specific landscape due to climate change happening right now.

din blinde passager (your blind passenger)
2010
fluorescent lamps, monofrequency lamps, fog machine, ventilator, wood, aluminium, steel, fabric, plastic sheet
installation view at arken museum of modern art, copenhagen, 2010
photo: thilo frank / studio olafur eliasson
courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york / los angeles
© 2010 olafur eliasson

throughout his successful career, eliasson has created works that bring perception to the spotlight. his installations play with reflections, inversions, after-images and shifting colors, to challenge the way we navigate and perceive our environments. as visitors pass in front of the bright lights of your uncertain shadow (colour) 2010, they cast unexpected colorful shadows on the wall before them, while the yellow mono-frequency lights used within room for one colour 1997 reduce viewers’ perception to shades of yellow and black. a selection of the artist’s kaleidoscopic sculptures including your spiral view 2002 and the newly created your planetary window 2019, play with light and space to create optical illusions that encourage visitors to see their environment in new ways.

beauty
1993
spotlight, water, nozzles, wood, hose, pump
dimensions variable installation view at moderna museet, stockholm, 2015
photo: anders sune berg
courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york / los angeles
© 1993 olafur eliasson

other pieces like stardust particle 2014, which features complex interlocking shapes and crystalline structures; and model room 2003 that brings together around 450 models, prototypes, and geometrical studies in collaboration with his team and mathematician and architect einar thorsteinn explore geometry as a major theme.

installation view of olafur eliasson: in real life at tate modern from 11
photo by anders sune berg

the show closes with a space dubbed the expanded studio which explores eliasson’s engagement with social and environmental issues. projects such as little sun, which provides solar-powered lamps and charges to communities without access to electricity; green light — an artistic workshop where asylum seekers and refugees, together with members of the public, constructed green light lamps; and ice watch, the recently staged installation of glacial ice from greenland. eliasson’s architecture projects are also showcased here while the studio’s kitchen team have created a special menu to be catered during the program of related events based on organic, vegetarian and locally sourced food.

room for one colour
1997
monofrequency lamps
dimensions variable
installation view at pinchukartcentre, kiev, 2011
photo: dmitry baranov
courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york / los angeles
© 1997 olafur eliasson

organised by tate modern in collaboration with guggenheim museum bilbao, olafur eliasson: in real life is an impressive survey of the artist’s engagement with society and the environment

big bang fountain
2014
water, strobe light, pump, nozzle, stainless steel, wood, foam, plastic, control unit, dye
1650 x 1600 x 1600 mm
installation view at moderna museet, stockholm 2015
photo: anders sune berg
courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york/los angeles
© 2014 olafur eliasson

moss wall 1994
reindeer moss, wood, wire
dimensions variable
installation view: leeum, samsung museum of art, seoul, 2016
photo: hyunsoo kim © 1994 olafur eliasson
courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york / los angeles
© 1994 olafur eliasson

your spiral view 2002
stainless steel, mirror, steel
3200 x 3200 x 8000 mm
installation view at fondation beyeler, basel, switzerland, 2002
photographer: jens ziehe
boros collection, berlin
© 2002 olafur eliasson

eine beschreibung einer reflexion, oder aber eine angenehme übung zu deren eigenschaften (a
description of a reflection or, a pleasant exercise on its qualities), 1995
spotlight, mirrors, projection foil, motor, tripod
dimensions variable
installation view: olafur eliasson: in real life tate modern, london, 2019
photo: anders sune berg
boros collection, berlin
© 1995 olafur eliasson

cold wind sphere, 2012
stainless steel, coloured glass (dark blue, blue and light grey), mirror,
colour-effect filter glass (blue), bulb
diameter 170 cm
installation view: tate modern, london, 2019
photo: anders sune berg
gift of the clarence westbury foundation, 2013. centre pompidou,
musée national d’art modern, centre de creation industrielle, paris
© 2012 olafur eliasson

glacial spherical flare, 2019
silvered coloured glass (beige, white), silvered coloured glacier-rock-flour glass (various green), gold
ruby glass (pink), aluminium
180 x 180 x 4 cm
installation view: tate modern, london
photo: anders sune berg
courtesy the artist; neugerriemschneider, berlin; tanya bonakdar gallery, new york / los
angeles
© 2019 olafur eliasson

the expanded studio, 2019
installation view: tate modern, london
photo: anders sune berg
© 2019 olafur eliasson

model room
2003
wood table with steel legs, mixed media models, maquettes, prototypes
dimension variable
installation view: tate modern, london
photo: anders sune berg
moderna museet, stockholm. purchase 2015 funded by the anna-stina malmborg and gunnar
höglund foundation.
© 2003 olafur eliasson