Here is my review on the exhibit
“Take your time: Olafur Eliasson’s” engaging environments are strongly serene in an art world that seems to be cluttered with junk. Through his artwork’s beauty and subtlety along with his attention to light, color, and shapes Eliasson’s art forces the viewer into submission. “Take you time” draws from Eliasson’s collection, ranging over fifteen years of work. Recreating landscapes from his native Scandinavia, by use of mirrors, light projections, moss, water, and stone Eliasson creates an atmosphere of tranquility.
As you walk through the exhibits first hallway, in Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, you are greeted by electric orange rays transforming you into a piece of Wonder bread, slowly cooking in a toaster oven, or so it feels. His 1997, “Room for one colour” is reminiscent of minimalist Dan Flavin’s electric light art. Unlike his other work this piece emits an uneasy feeling as you stand under the vibrantly orange lights. Eliasson’s other installations are subtler and force the viewers to wait for them to reveal themselves. “360 room for all colours” immerses observers into the color spectrum, only after spending a few minutes do these colors begin to transform into the next. This piece conveys the splendor of Scandinavia’s Northern Lights. The ever-changing ring of light drives onlookers to “take their time.”
The body seems to naturally flow through each room of the exhibit to the next, being slowly hypnotized by the calm colors, and quiet nature that radiates from each piece. Whether viewers like it or not they become about part of the work. “Moss wall” expands itself over the enormous gallery wall, which stretches too high and wide to take in its entirety through one gaze. The spongy textured wall pulls you in to the point that you are so close you find yourself wanting to press up against the wall until you begin to morph as one into the moss.
Wind swings from a cord in “Ventilator” (1997) and as you close your eyes to listen, you are transported to the solitude of Iceland.
Waterfalls mist in the darkness through “Beauty” (1993), creating a silent interaction between viewer and installation. Stars release their light through “Inverted Berlin sphere” (2005) placing you into the infinite sky. These simulated environmental elements sooth and unbend the tension of time. Rainbow stained tunnels take you out of reality and into a kaleidoscope passage, where you begin to surrender yourself to the steady fluid changes of each piece and in essence, nature.In a fast past world and even faster moving art world Olafur Eliasson’s “Take your time” encourages viewers to slow down and engage with the world in a new and refreshing way. Through his stimulating work we are reminded of how awe-inspiring nature truly is. Rather than sauntering out of the museum in a confused stagnant state of being, viewers can walk away with a new fluid thought process that impacts them to reconsider our world.
I strongly encourage you to “take your time” to go view this beautifully captivating exhibit through September 13, 2009 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 East Chicago Avenue.