LPA Pick/ Tate Modern/ Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life

The subject on everyone’s lips at the moment is of course, the environment. With demonstrations in our nearby Trafalgar Square and Waterloo Bridge and TV shows like Seven Worlds, One Planet it is the focus of many conversations. Including, it seems the Icelandic Artist Olafur Eliasson and Tate Modern who’s exhibition we all recently visited for LPA Pick, LPA’a regular cultural trip!

Eliasson’s immersive installations play with your senses including natural phenomena such as rainbows, shadows and motion. The work explores issues such as climate change and migration though geometry, colour theory and even architecture.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, especially the immersive quality of the installations. We all thought it was a little too small, but I suppose that is a good thing to leave wanting more!

Clio’s favourite piece was ‘Your Blind Passenger, Tunnel Installation’. The tunnel seemingly blinds you, however leaves you realising how heightened and attuned your other senses are. ‘I really loved how interactive it was and how the colours changed quite subtly when you walked through it but where so vivid at the same time!’

Anna’s favourite was ‘Big Bang Fountain’. This work was a small water fountain that pumps water vertically, a strobe light flashes in a pitch black room to reveal snapshots of the bursts. The water looks like it’s been frozen mid movement, however in the darkness the viewer can hear the water running smoothly and continuously and even hold their hand out the feel the flow of the water. Anna says ‘I think my favourite was the one in the flashing room with the water jet. I really liked how you couldn’t ever see the water feature in full, it made it difficult to work out what was happening. You only ever saw the water as a stationary feature during each light flash, but with the constant sound of running water around you it was quite disconcerting. As well as the sensory side to it, the water shapes that you saw illuminated in the dark were beautiful and intricate, unlike any way you’ve ever seen water before.’

Lisa most liked ‘Your Uncertain Shadow’, in which visitors stand in front of a projected light in order to observe split-color shadows of their own figure on the wall. The division of light is a playful reinterpretation of an everyday shadow. Viewers are inspired to play with their depictions and look at the space and light. ‘The wall was really fun, we spent a lot of time making shapes all together as a group and singly too - we took so many photos! I liked the way it mad you see your form and interpret the shape of you body differently’.

Georgina’s favourite was ‘Beauty’, where water is pumped through a tube and thousands of tiny water droplets cascade out, producing a curtain of mist, which then reflects the light to produce a rainbow. The work highlights the environmental wonder. ‘I loved Beauty, a spotlight on a fine mist of water in a darkened room that created a beautiful pattern of colours. I found it very aesthetically pleasing and it was fun to watch the more brave of us (Chloe) walk through it and get wet!’

Finally Chloe’s favourite was the ‘The glacier melt series 1999/2019’. This series presents photographs of 30 Icelandic glaciers from 1999 and 2019 side by side, revealing the dramatic changes that have occurred. ‘Of course, photographs are my most favourite medium and seeing these beautiful but also terrifying images of the way the glaciers have changed and decreased is incredibly interesting and really highlights the change the planet is going through.’

‘The glacier melt series 1999/2019’ © Tate

We all had an amazing time at the exhibition and had a lovely night out together! Where shall we go for our next one?