In the bibliography of this latest book, it is apparent that now fewer than 24 books have been published by or about Eliasson since the turn of the millennium alone, and the number is increasing almost every month.
The artist starts the 25th publication with a brief account of the motivation behind his work: “My interest in architecture, space, time, and art ... comes from a fundamental interest in human beings...”. In Eliasson’s case, what could sound like a platitude may be taken seriously. He possesses a rare talent for effective stage-management and, even after many years of living an artist’s life, a genuine interest in the interaction with the viewer, who, for Eliasson, is always the user and part of his installations. Eliasson exposes the spectator to light flashes, sends him across ice surfaces and through scented tunnels, stage-manages artificial geysers and sunsets.
With ‘Your Engagement Has Consequences’, Eliasson now seems to have called a halt to the escalating flood of publications. The more than 300-page catalogue documents 3 exhibitions at the same time, with expressive colour photos and four texts on significant themes relevant to present day Eliasson. The rather lengthy essay ‘Vibrations’ forms the prologue, in which the artist debates the dimensions of his work: space, time and, as the quasi ‘fifth dimension’, the visitor’s perception.
In the next chapter, Italo Calvino’s wonderful text ‘Reading a Wave’, demonstrates how natural phenomena can be portrayed in a succinct, condensed and almost meditative fashion. The Italian author describes his impressions when observing the ocean (the wave as symbol of movement and simultaneous manifestation of light, takes a central role in Eliasson’s work).
Also a good read is ‘The Hegemony of TiO²’, a conversation between Olafur Eliasson, Daniel Birnbaum and Mark Wigley on the colour white and its significance in contemporary architecture, especially in museum construction. Wigley, whose “White Walls and Designer Dresses” is a groundbreaking book on this theme from the mid-1990s. In it, he makes an eloquent and critical evaluation of the status of classic-contemporary architecture. According to his thesis, this type of architecture is very little white, as white can be considered to be a ‘neutral’ colour in architecture.
Whilst Eliasson’s text contributions form the philosophical-scientific reference framework of his work, the book’s photographs by Jens Ziehe are convincing without words. Whatever Eliasson conjures up in the predominantly night-black rooms from light and matter (predominantly water and steam, metal and movable glass) comes as a surprise and inspires meditation and understanding. Why? Because he has made a point of always revealing the secret of his installations to the viewer: every projector, every mirror and every colour filter. Nevertheless, it is a cause of constant amazement that so much effect can be generatedwith so little input.