Artist Olafur Eliasson on Seeing What We’ve Been Blind To
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How can reconnecting with our senses change our perspective?
We want to feel that we are safe. We want to feel that we are good enough. This feeling requires somebody or something to see us. Culture, as I see it, is one of the languages that can make you feel seen, met, and heard.
As a writer, I have spent years trying to help people reconnect with nature and feel what's happening to the earth through language. But some things are beyond words, and language can only carry us so far. That's why I was so looking forward to speaking with this week's guest, the illustrious artist, Olafur Eliasson. Over the last few decades, Olafur has brought waterfalls to the Brooklyn Bridge, melting glacial ice to major cities, and even recreated the sun indoors. His art helps bring new perspective and even open our eyes to where we might have been blind.
I need to unsee what I have been seeing all along. There's nothing more inspiring than accepting that you have been blind.
I'm Willow Dufferbaugh, and this is The Nature Of, where we look to the nature of our world for wisdom and ideas that change the way we live. This week, I'm sitting down with Icelandic Danish artist, Olafur Eliasson, to talk about the power of art in helping us touch the intangible and letting ourselves be touched in return. I'm a huge admirer of your work and so honored to have you on the show, so thank you.
Thank you, Willow, and thank you for having me here on this podcast.
You've spoken about how growing up between Denmark and Iceland really influenced you in terms of seeing the landscape up close, seeing our changing planet up close. When I think about Iceland in particular, the landscape is so elemental and so dynamic. I'm curious as a starting point if you can speak a little bit to how that shaped the relationship between creativity and the natural world for you.
I was born in Denmark by Icelandic parents. They were very young and I was sent off to Iceland to be with my grandparents whenever there was a chance.
What influence did Iceland's landscape have on Olafur Eliasson's art?
That means that summers, maybe Christmas, Easter holiday. And it meant that I spent a considerable amount of time being slow. One of my earliest memories that I have is that I was at my grandparents' house. It must have been 72, 73, where there was an oil crisis. Every night, I believe it was maybe after dinner or seven or eight o'clock, there would be a big bell in the city. And then all this electricity of the city would be turned off to save electricity every night. I think it was every night. When we heard the bell, we ran to the window. My grandparents lived a little bit on the periphery of the city, overlooking the city, overlooking the harbour and the city. And there was this magic moment where all the lights would go off, like over the whole city, right?
But what was very special was that my grandmother typically would come with a candle then and we would sit by the window. We would look out the window into this very blue Icelandic light. And so when we talk about nature, we often think about a mountain or river or something. But in this case, the light that sort of fell into the room was this kind of incredibly blue Arctic summer, midnight sun. It wasn't quite as north as midnight sun, but there was this kind of very strange light. You know, that was the city of Hafnarfjordur, it's called, and it was looking north. You are looking up to the very big glacier called Snæfellsnes, which is actually not very big anymore, but it was then. And that meant we were waiting for the sun to set and be behind Snæfellsnes.
It had already gone down. but it would still, from underneath the horizon, be able to illuminate the glacier.
How does Olafur Eliasson describe his early experiences with nature?
And this means, when it was exactly behind it, seen from Hapnerfjorde, it started to glow in this kind of incredible red and yellow and sort of burning colors. So if I have any really profound memories of Iceland, it was this kind of connection between a social getting together almost around a campfire, this candle there on the table, us running around, me and my cousins, waiting for the sun to be glowing up this glacier. And I remember when I was in Denmark after the summer, I always thought of that.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How can reconnecting with our senses change our perspective?
0:03–2:36
2
What influence did Iceland's landscape have on Olafur Eliasson's art?
2:36–4:30
3
How does Olafur Eliasson describe his early experiences with nature?
4:30–6:23
4
What parallels exist between ice and art in reflecting our world?
6:23–8:59
5
How does art help us process the climate crisis?
8:59–10:33
6
What role does culture play in making us feel seen and heard?
10:33–12:42
7
How can art create safe spaces for emotional exploration?
12:42–14:08
8
What impact did the Ice Watch project have on urban audiences?
14:08–30:59
Speakers
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