Olafur Eliasson was born in 1967 in Copenhagen and grew up between Denmark and Iceland, where his parents were from. His installations, sculptures, photographs and paintings, among other projects, reflect a profound concern with human presence in nature and how we perceive and interact with the world around us. His works can be deceptively simple or enormously complex, but often share a rigorous and reductive geometry, which may conversely produce expansive and multifarious perceptual, sensory and embodied effects.
Olafur Eliasson’s The large Iceland series #8 (2012) Courtesy the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York. © 2012 Olafur Eliasson
Eliasson has stated that “the spectator is the central issue”, a long-established aspect of conceptual and environmental practices, but for him it is important that the viewer not only completes the work, but is also transformed by it. This subjective and individual revelation is, he hopes, allied to a sense of collective experience, what he calls a “we-ness”, that often alerts his audience to wider cultural and social issues including the climate catastrophe.
Installation view Olafur Eliasson’s Beauty (1993) at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo in 2020 The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Charitable Trust, Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art. © 1993 Olafur Eliasson. Photograph: Kazuo Fukunaga
Indeed, environment, in multiple senses, is the fundamental element of his work. He discusses his deep concern about the climate catastrophe and the importance of action. He reflects on his concept of “seeing yourself sensing” and its shifting nature in relation to different works across his career, and how he often includes the word “your” in his titles as a gesture of trust towards his audience.
Olafur Eliasson’s Your lost lighthouse (2020) Courtesy the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York. © 2020 Olafur Eliasson. Photograph: Jens Ziehe
He also speaks about the wealth of writers and thinkers that inform his work on a daily basis, from Donna Haraway to Alva Noë. He recalls the epiphany of experiencing a work by James Turrell and his fascination with early Renaissance conceptions of space. He reflects on his interest in breakdance when he was younger and his current enjoyment of music by Hilda Gunnarsdóttir and Rosalía. Plus, he gives insight into life in his vast studio in Berlin, and answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?
• Olafur Eliasson: Presence, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, until 12 July 2026
• Olafur Eliasson: Your Curious Journey, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia, until 12 April 2026
• Olafur Eliasson: Your View Matter, Padimai Art & Tech Studio, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore, until 31 March 2026
• Olafur’s first permanent public work in the UK, Your Planetary Assembly (2025) is on view at Oxford North, Oxford, UK now
This podcast is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture platform. Bloomberg Connects offers access to a vast range of international cultural organisations through a single click, with new guides being added regularly. They include a host of museums that have held solo exhibitions by Olafur Eliasson, from MoCA in Los Angeles to the Frick in New York, Tate Modern in London, Singapore Art Museum and Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. The guide to the Istanbul Museum includes a feature on its new building by Renzo Piano—the first project by Piano in Türkiye. It also has audio content on its collection, with works from Türkiye and beyond, and on the exhibition taken from the collection, Floating Islands, with descriptions and interpretation of works by artists including the key abstract painter Fahrelnissa Zeid and the contemporary figurative artist Bedri Baykam.
