- Art & Design
This year the multimedia artist Olafur Eliasson celebrates the 25th anniversary of his creative studio in Berlin. In all these years he has sent countless sculptures, paintings, films and installations into the world. To highlight his unique career and oeuvre, Phaidon published this book, which we now want to share as our ‘book of the week’ to celebrate the work of Eliasson.
Many projects by the Danish-Icelandic artist are striking, to say the least. The various installations he made in public places, such as The Weather Project in Tate Modern and The New York City Waterfalls did not pass by unnoticed. Eliasson likes to use elements such as light, water and temperature to give the viewer a unique experience. Hence the title of this recent publication, Olafur Eliasson: Experience. 
Eliasson is known for delivering unique experiences to a wide audience.
In this book, publisher Phaidon presents the artist's entire career (up to the year 2018) and thus gives the reader a unique view of the world of Olafur Eliasson. One of the most special things about his work is that – as he, himself, indicates in the video below – he wants to make art accessible to everyone, not just the true connoisseurs. The book itself has therefore been assembled in close collaboration with the artist in such a way that it should be interesting to read and look at to a varied audience. 
Art historian and curator at MoMA Michelle Kuo provides an insightful introduction to each of the works presented. The artist himself and Anna Engberg-Pedersen of Studio Olafur Eliasson also contributed to making this book a real must-have. You can find the publication online via this link, but if you'd also like to hear what the artist himself has to say about it, do watch this video:
What’s also worth mentioning is that there is currently a very fascinating exhibition of Olafur Eliasson's work in the Guggenheim Bilbao until 21 June. The museum is of course temporarily closed due to the corona crisis, but curator Lucia Agirre gives a glimpse into the exhibition in this video. 
Header image: Remagine (large version), 2002, spotlights, tripods or wall mounts, control unit, dimensions variable, installation view at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany, 2004. Picture credit: Jens Ziehe (pages 158-159)