Saturday, April 10, 2010

b e a u t y ....


So I finally made it... just!

And to what am I referring??

The Olafur Eliasson exhibition Take your Time at the MCA... It's only been on since Dec 10th and every man and his dog has seen it, but for some reason I wanted to wait! And wait I did... but the wait was definitely worth it...

What a show? I mean it really did have it all... colour, humour, light paintings , massive sculptures + installations, photography and a really brilliant documentary at the end to put it all into context - as by that point you really wanted to understand alittle more about the man behind the amazing artwork.

Olafur was born in Denmark in 1967 to Icelandic parents, and in this, his first survey exhibition in Australia, he presents his audience with an array of works to tempt, inspire and make you think. A novel concept... trying to get your audience to emotionally, physically and thoughtfully react with artwork! I was amazed to see people, investigate, laugh, talk, engage and communicate with total strangers about what they were being presented with... As Olafur describes it:

"I see the potential in the spectator - in the receiver, the reader, the participator, the viewer, the user".


Olafur wants you, the viewer, to participate and engage with what he has created.... such as this work, above, called Multiple Grotto 2004, that is like a massive kaleidoscope. When you looked into each hole, you were given another view of the outside world using multiple mirrors that were set in a complex configuration that had all the architects in the room puzzled and amazed!

I walked inside of it, walk around it, touch it, and constantly moved my eyes around it to try and understand how the hell he had done it!
This was my favourite work though as it was poetic, beautiful, mesmerising....

It was called Beauty 1993 and it was a darkened room with a spotlight, with water coming down in a light scotch mist, that when looked at from a certain angle gave you an image of a rainbow, or halo of colour. It was truly beautiful and everyone in the room was captivated in silence, trying to take it all in...

It was like I was looking at the energy of the universe and the light and colour that surrounds us everyday... It was that poetic.

I could have stayed there all day but I had to move on and play with some white Lego!
At the beginning or end of the exhibition, as you entered and left from the same staircase, there was a massive table set up with white Lego with which to play! It was an artwork called The Cubic structural evolution project 2004, which is a fancy way of saying... Lego land for big kids! And there were MANY big kids playing, and making beautiful towers and castles out of these tiny pieces of White Lego! Fun with a capital F!

What is it with craft corners and play areas in galleries at the moment? Don't get me wrong...I think its brilliant, and the best way of making art engaging and fun for people... But it does seem to be popping up a lot in big exhibitions at the moment... Like the work of Alfredo + Isabel Aquilizan that was in the Asia Pacific Triennial...

These works kind of remind me of Droog design from The Netherlands ..... as Droog is all about making fun out of industrial design so we start to view life and the way we live our lives like kids again...

And believe me I'm all about embracing the tiny in us all!!

Have a great weekend and if you are curious about seeing Olafur Eliasson's show at the MCA it closes this Sunday at 5pm...

Take care
x

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