Olafur Eliassons Spectacular Versailles Takeover Stands Up to Climate Change

ARTSY EDITORIAL
BY ANNA SANSOM
JUN 8TH, 2016 7:30 PM, https://www.ar tsy.net/ar ticle/ar tsy-editorial-olafur-eliasson-s-spectacular-versailles-takeover-stands-up-to-climate-
change , ACCESAT: 06.02.2017

Olafur Eliasson hopes that his exhibition at the Chteau de Versailles, which includes
a triptych of site-specific, water-related projects in the palace gardens, will stimulate reflection on
climate change.
Olafur Eliasson
Waterfall, 2016
"Olafur Eliasson" at Chteau de Versailles, Versailles

The Danish-Icelandic artist has imported 150 tons of glacial rock flourgranite
ground down by glacial erosionfrom Greenland to create his land art-
inspired Glacial rock flour garden (2016). The grayish mineral dust, which Eliasson
has described as very alien, is arranged around the statue of Persephone, the
goddess of spring, in the Colonnade grove. Persephone and the Colonnade have
been cultivated, too, so its about the loss of nature, the artist said at the
exhibitions press preview. The installation comes on the heels of Eliassons Ice
Watch (2015), for which he installed giant boulders of ice in front of Pariss
Panthon during the United Nations Climate Change Conference last November.
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Elsewhere in the gardens, Eliassons Fog assembly (2016) emits clouds of mist,
while Waterfall (2016) is a vast cascade of water falling from a construction crane at
the basin of the Grand Canal, reminiscent of the four waterfalls the artist installed in
New Yorks East River in 2008. At Versailles, however, the crane is yellow steel,
approximating the same tone of gold as the gardens Apollo Fountain. Unlike Anish
Kapoors controversial Dirty Corner (2011), installed at Versailles last year, Eliassons
trio of works fits more seamlessly into Andr Le Ntres landscaped rows of tree-lined
walkways. The artists works nonetheless require a shift in perspective, placing an
unnatural spin on otherwise natural phenomena. On the 21st of June, the sun will
sink and the waterfall will obscure the sunthats why it has the height it has,
explained Eliasson of the towering work.

ENTER SLIDESHOW

Within the Chteau de Versailles, Eliasson has installed a series of subtle space
interventions using mirrors and light. The curious museum (2010), consisting of
mirrors placed behind the windows of the Hercules Room, reflects the rooms arches
back at the visitor, while, at the end of the Hall of Mirrors, the reflective triangle
of Your sense of unity (2016)bisected by a semi-circleconjures a multiplicity of
illuminated circles. The artists delicate approach continues with Solar
compression (2016), a suspended mirror that rotates, slowly, one edge of it
emanating orange light. It reflects the marquetry of the wooden floorboards and the
fireplace in the Kings Guards Room. The subtlest piece, though, is The gaze of
Versailles (2016), two gold ballsalluding to Eliassons reading glassesplaced on a
window pane in the Lower Gallery, looking out over the gardens.
RELATED ARTICLE

Unpacking Anish Kapoors Controversial, Captivating Show at Versailles

Eliassons atmospheric, immersive works, integrated into Versailless architecture,

are intended to make the visitor question whether they are consuming or producing
the experience, as he says, as well as putting a lens over climate change. His
presentation, which is curated by former Centre Pompidou director Alfred
Pacquement, has not upset any of Versailless traditionalists, who have bristled at the
works installed by Kapoor, Jeff Koons, and Takashi Murakami in the past. The ninth
contemporary artist invited to present a solo show at the Chteau de Versailles since
2008, Eliasson has aligned himself more with Giuseppe Penone and Lee Ufan, whose
outdoor exhibitions also cohered with the environment, bringing a subtle
contemporary angle to it.
Eliasson has effectively made a respectful bow to the heritage of Versailles, using the
platform to amplify his environmental concerns. The works outdoors and indoors
address the need to offer the opportunity for everyone to become an explorer, not
just a king or queen, Eliasson told viewers at the preview, his Little Sun solar lamp
(produced for the 1.2 billion people worldwide without electricity) hanging around his
neck.

Anna Sansom