Eliasson in Australia

Image courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/ramananv

We can say from the outset that the title of this article is somewhat misleading. To date, Eliasson’s work in Australia has been granular, with individual pieces only exhibited at GOMA, Queensland, and during the Biennale of Sydney, both in 1998 and 2008.

His work has also appeared at the National Gallery of Victoria. These exhibited works include ‘The cubic structural evolution’ (2004), now part of GOMA’s collection, and the ‘Light ventilator mobile’ (2002) exhibited at the MCA as part of BoS, 2008. While these works are vastly different in form, they are united by Eliasson’s premise that the ‘work is you’.

‘The cubic structural evolution’ (2004) is a participatory piece in which viewers are invited to contribute to the construction of a Lego world. While the task sounds simple, childlike, the outcome is far more complex. The familiarity of the Lego pieces is offset by the intricate and mythical nature of the existing landscape installed by Eliasson. We are at once invited and intimidated by the small-scale architecture. Here is the chance to finally contribute: To change, to play God, town planner, architect, labourer, but here we are decisively met by our own internal debates on practicality and perspective.

Image courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/ramananv

An independent system, ‘Light ventilator mobile’ (2002) represents an intersection in Eliasson’s interests in culture and nature, science and art. While the use of the mobile as a mechanism for the work imbues a level of understanding, our ability to observe this experience of the transient phenomena of light and wind in a contained space is a peculiar and unusual privilege.

On the one hand, Eliasson’s work reminds us of the significance of all the senses in the perception of art, on the other; it provides insight into the everyday spectacles that are often taken for granted. The idea of privilege then is perhaps a fitting afterthought to the descriptions of these previously exhibited works and a concise preface to his large-scale upcoming exhibition at the MCA. In this exhibition will lie the potential to simultaneously experience new worlds and parts of our own world in a new way.