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Olafur Eliasson in "Berlin"
With the support of his interdisciplinary studio, Olafur Eliasson produces epic, technically sophisticated sculptures and installations, using natural elements like light, water, and air to alter viewers’ sensory perceptions. From 120 foot tall waterfalls floating above New York’s East River to chunks of arctic ice installed in a Parisian plaza, his immersive environments, public installations, and architectural projects are motivated by the belief that art has the power to make viewers think differently about the world. Expanding the role of the artist, Eliasson contemplates how art can function as a “civic muscle,” offering solutions to global problems like climate change and renewable energy.
More information and creditsCredits
Executive Producer: Tina Kukielski. Series Producer: Nick Ravich. Directors: Rafael Salazar & Ava Wiland. Producer: Ava Wiland. Editor: Thomas Niles. Director of Photography: Rafael Salazar.
Production Coordinator: Ife Adelona. Curatorial Assistant: Danielle Brock. Advising Producer: Ian Forster.
Title Sequence & Typography: Afternoon Inc. Composer: Joel Pickard. Narration: Carrie Mae Weems. Additional Photography: Rehana Esmail, Christoph Lerch, & Anne Misselwitz. Aerial Camera: Martin Paschkowski. Sound: Jaime Guijarro-Bustamante. Additional Sound: Rasmus Damsgaard, Marc Parisotto, Fokke van Saane, & Ava Wiland. Production Assistant: Flavia Barragan Clavero, Claudia Gülzow, Tim Oppermann, & Manuel Schmit.
Digital Intermediate: Blue Table Post. Post-Production Producer: Oliver Lief. Colorist: Natacha Ikoli. Re-Recording Mixer & Dialogue Editor: Rich Cutler. Additional Animation: Andy Cahill. Assistant Editor: Caroline Berler, Adam Boese, Maya Elany, & Jonah Greenstein. Technical Evaluation: Pillar To Post. Translation: Rehana Esmail & Ridwan Zebari.
Artwork Courtesy: Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Olafur Eliasson, Hiwa K, Susan Philipsz, KOW, Lisson Gallery, & Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. Eliasson Artwork: “Cirkelbroen,” Copenhagen, 2015; “Din blinde passager (Your blind passenger),” ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, 2010; “Ice Watch,” Place du Panthéon, Paris, 2015; “Map for unthought thoughts,” Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 2014; Rainbow assembly, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, 2016; “Reality projector,” Marciano Foundation, Los Angeles, 2018; “Riverbed,” Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark, 2014; “Sphere,” Fünf Höfe, Viscardihof, Munich, 2003; “The weather project,” Tate Modern, London, 2003; “Umschreibung,” KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft, Munich, 2004; “Vejr i vejret,” Ordrupgaard Kunstpark, Denmark, 2016; “Wirbelwerk,” Lenbachhaus, Munich, 2011; “Your rainbow panorama,” ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark, 2011; “Your split second house,” 12th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 2010.
Archival Materials: 47 Film / Andy Cameron; BBC Motion Gallery / Getty Images; Critical Past; Footage of Olafur Eliasson’s “Waterfall, Versailles, 2016 by Barbara Fecchio, Courtesy of Sculpture Nature; Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin; Newsroom GmbH / Max Roehrle; NPR; Olafur Eliasson interview courtesy Public Art Fund; Pond5; SHIMURAbros; Studio Olafur Eliasson; Transit Film; & Walker Art Center / Andy Underwood.
Additional Art21 Staff: Maggie Albert, Lindsey Davis, Lolita Fierro, Joe Fusaro, & Jonathan Munar. Interns: Diane Huerta, Esther Knuth, Sunny Leerasanthanah, & Kristopher Neira. Public Relations: Sutton. Station Relations: De Shields Associates, Inc. Legal Counsel: Barbara T. Hoffman, Esq.
Special Thanks: The Art21 Board of Trustees, Leila Akhmetova, Bakir Ali, Bettina Bärnighausen, Sebastian Behmann, Finn Bergquist, Thomas Blees. Rainer Brennecke, Johanna Chromik, CityQuartier FÜNF HÖFE, De Appel, Ina Dinter, Documenta 14, Joel Draper, Caroline Eggel, Jeremy Eichenbaum , El Otmani Gym, Anna Engberg-Pedersen, Emilie Engbirk, Anna Fedotova, Guillermo F. Florez, Annie Claire Geisinger , Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, Nora Gomez-Strauss, Marina Greiner , Felix Hallwachs, Christine Hauptsummer , Haus der Geschichte Österreich, Lauren Jack, Patricia Kamp, Wanås Konst, KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft Munich, Camilla Kragelund, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Sharron Lee, Clara Jungman Malmquist, Julia Jungman Malmquist , Marciano Art Foundation, Augustin Maurs , Eoghan McTigue, Alan Miller, Elisabeth Millqvist , Museum Frieder Burda | Salon Berlin, Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Alexander Psavke, Sara Roffino, Schlossmuseum Sondershausen, Emily Skeppner, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Niels Van Tomme , Lucie von Eugen, Jill Vuchetich, Wanås Konst, Sven Weigel, Wolfgang Wenke, Robin Woerlen-Leikam, Michaela Zach, & Katja Zeidler.
Series Created By: Susan Dowling & Susan Sollins.
Major support for Season 9 is provided by National Endowment for the Arts, PBS, Lambent Foundation, Agnes Gund, Ford Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Toby Devan Lewis, Nion McEvoy, and The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.
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Olafur Eliasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1967. Moving seamlessly from his early photographs to sculpture, immersive environments, large-scale public interventions, and architectural projects, Eliasson uses simple natural elements—light, color, water, and movement—to alter viewers’ sensory perceptions. Predicated on the idea that “art does not end where the real world begins,” Eliasson’s work lives in the active exchange between his creations and the viewers.
“We need to find a way to create solutions, just like science has presented solutions to us. Art, as a civic muscle, actually has something to offer.”
Olafur Eliasson