Olafur Eliasson: time returned, between light and shade

We have to agree with Olafur Eliasson, because after viewing the exhibition ‘Nel tuo tempo’ in Florence’s majestic Palazzo Strozzi, we feel as if we have just returned from a long voyage, even though it only takes an hour or so to visit the gallery. But our perception of space, of time, and, in the end, of ourselves is challenged by viewing the Icelandic/Danish artist’s works, to the point that, by the end of the exhibition, we feel different, even somewhat alienated – though gently, lightly, almost pleasantly so. Right from the entrance to the exhibition, where the site-specific work ‘Under the weather’, consisting of a huge elliptical structure measuring 11 metres suspended 8 metres above the ground in the Renaissance courtyard, creates a sort of visual interference in space thanks to the moiré effect (visual interference created by superimposed grids). The installation is destabilising, dissolving our usual tranquil perception of the courtyard. Climbing to the main floor, and then down into the Strozzina, on the basement level, room follows upon room of installations, constructed out of lights, shadows, slow movements and atmospheric effects, as in ‘Beauty’, in which the rainbow effect is perceived through a sort of artificial mist.

Arturo Galansino, general director of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and curator of the exhibition, explains how the institution began its relationship with Olafur Eliasson, culminating in this exhibition: “In 2015 Olafur visited Palazzo Strozzi for the first time, and was struck by the architecture of the complex, beginning a long conversation with the building itself. The exhibition is the artist’s work performed directly on the spaces in Palazzo Strozzi, with historic installations and new productions subverting our perception of the building, using architecture as a tool for creating art.” The Renaissance building thus becomes a dynamic body, in which elements such as windows, ceilings, corners and walls become the focus of the installations, using light, screens, mirrors or coloured filters. “Eliasson’s dialogue with architecture,” concludes Galansino, “is revealed through use of artificial lights, fleeting shadows, reflections, moiré effects and intense colours.”

The works and installations appear almost unsubstantial: in the first three halls, the shadows of the glass appear on the walls, in a game of reality vs. representation, with effects and figures that vanish if a shadow crosses through them (‘Triple seeing survey’, ‘Tomorrow’, ‘Just before now’). Natural or artificial? Real, or a trick of perception? These are the questions the artist raises, not so much in visitors’ minds as in their sensations, their perceptive experiences. Continuing, room after room, immersed in optical phenomena recalling those of nature (the sun in ‘Solar compression’, a sunset in ‘Red window semicircle’), though they are clearly artificial. But the enchantment remains, even if the illusion is declared; the effect is amusing, so that each work of art becomes an invitation to ask questions, participating in both the place and the weather (physical and atmospheric); in short, in the time. “ I’m not inviting you to consume my work,”, says Eliasson, “I’m inviting you to co-produce the work with me, with Palazzo Strozzi, with all the travellers that have joined up to get together here and now.”.

“Think of your visit,” continues the artist, “ you choose to come here, as one of which is travelling through and encountering artworks in the sequence that I have laid them out. You find out that you are in fact the one who creates the exhibition that you are seeing.” What Eliasson is interested in, then, is generating an experience: “ In the exhibition the idea of movement, the idea of time, the idea of instability are actually being addressed.” Then he asks: “Does an experience just happen to us, or it is something we create? I’d like to think it is something we create, and I would like to think that we have something to say in how we think about that. We’re here in Florence, at Palazzo Strozzi, which was built in the Renaissance, for more than 500 years to greet us to where we are today. How did you get here and where are we going to go from here? Thoughts and ideas that I’ve been working on in my exhibition ‘Nel tuo tempo’. The question now is: do you have an impact, or do you have something to say when you experience the world? This is an interesting topic, and it is what the exhibition is about. I think the more we understand that we have the freedom, but also the responsibility to take ownership of our experience, of our own consequences, the more we are likely to get engaged into the world, in interesting ways that are to the greater benefit of our surroundings.”

Antonella Galli

Olafur Eliasson, ‘Nel tuo tempo’ exhibition, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. Until 22 January 2023

www.palazzostrozzi.org

All images: Courtesy of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Olafur Eliasson
All photos by Ela Bialkowska OKNO studio

Captions
01 Tomorrow, (2022, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
02 Firefly double-polyhedron sphere experiment (2020 Courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
03 Eye see you (2006, Courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
04 Just Before Now (2022, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
05 How do we live together (2019, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
06 Beauty (1993, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
07 Colour spectrum kaleidoscope (2003, Private collection; Courtesy of the artist, Galería Elvira González, Madrid, and neugerriemschneider, Berlin)
08 Solar Compression (2016, Ingebjørg Folgerø and Ådne Kverneland, long term loan to Stavanger kunstmuseum)
09 Under the weather (2022, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles), site-specific work created for the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi
10 Triple Seeing Survey (2022, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
11 Room for one colour (1997, Angsuvarnsiri Collection )
12 City Plan (2018, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
13 Fivefold dodecahedron lamp (2006, courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles)
14 Your view matter (2022, commissioned by MetaKovan, courtesy of Metapurse), with use of VR technology

---

GALLERY