Olafur Eliasson

OLAFUR ELIASSON

BETWEEN ART AND SCIENCE

Eliasson creates art that questions our perceptions of reality. His works are a compound of scientific inquiries and artistic aspiration for beauty.

The Carthographic Series, 2001-07

Description
The Carthographic Series really is two works that between them comprise 45 individual units, hung in a grid. They are aerial photographs, transferred to photogravure, wjere individual leaves have been applied with various faint nuances of blue, green and violet.

About the work
In this work Eliasson stages the juxtaposition between abstract patterns and realistic depictions. Depending on how closely we look at the picture grid, it can remain an abstract pattern of different structures or, upon closer scrutiny, a series of meticulous representations of the Icelandic landscape. Thus we become aware that looking at the work we decide what it is about.

The photographs then are a combination of realism and abstraction. At first glance they are an abstract pattern of different structures but they turn out to be so realistic as to be used for scientific mapping.
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Eliasson's art in general
Eliasson's art possesses the nature of inquiries founded on thorough research in a scientific tradition. This affords certain similarities with conceptual art which also emphasised the exploratory and analytical aspects of art. In addition his works reveal a fascination with art's aesthetic aspects so that each work typically manifests a balance between the beautiful, nature romanticism, and scientific inquiry.
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Literature
"Olafur Eliasson: Surroundings surrounded. Essays on Space and Science", MIT Press, 2001
"Olafur Eliasson. Your only real thing is time", Hatje Cantz Publishers, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 2001
"Olafur Eliasson" (Madelain Grynsztejn, Daniel Birnbaum og Michael Speaks), Phaidon, London, 2002
"At se sig selv sanse. Samtaler med Olafur Eliasson", Informations Forlag, 2004
”Olafur Eliasson: Your Engagement has Consequences; On the Relativity of Your Reality” (Ed. Olafur Eliasson and Caroline Eggel / Studio Olafur Eliasson), Baden: Lars Müller Publishers, 2006
”The Conversation Series; Vol. 13” (Olafur Eliasson & Hans Ulrich Obrist, Edited by Matthew Gaskins), Verlag der Buchhandlung Walter König, Köln, 2008.
“Olafur Eliasson: Det indre af det ydre.” (Edited by Malene Ratcliffe), Politikens Forlag, 2008