Jeppe Hein

Jeppe Hein was born in 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts in Copenhagen from 1997 to 2003 and at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main between 1999 and 2000. He lives and works in Berlin and Denmark. Early in his career, Hein worked as an assistant to the artist Olafur Eliasson, an experience that contributed to the development of a practice situated between sculpture, architecture, technical invention, and the traditions of Minimalism and Conceptual art. His work is characterised by a strong interest in the relationship between the artwork, its surroundings, and the people who encounter it. Hein is particularly known for interactive sculptures and installations that transform the exhibition space into a place of physical and perceptual experience. His works often employ seemingly simple materials and mechanisms, including mirrors, water, benches, walls, light, and moving structures. Through movement, reflection, repetition, and unexpected responses to the presence of the viewer, these elements challenge habitual perceptions of space and encourage audiences to become active participants rather than passive observers. Humour and surprise are recurring characteristics, allowing Hein to introduce playful disruptions into familiar architectural and social environments. The relationship between the body and space is central to Hein’s practice. His interactive works frequently require the viewer to move, sit, walk, look, or otherwise intervene in order to activate the work. An early example is *Flying Cube* (2004), presented at MoMA PS1, in which a suspended white cube responded to the presence and interaction of visitors, questioning the conventional relationship between artwork, gallery architecture, and audience. Similar principles can be found throughout his practice, where seemingly autonomous objects become activated through encounters with the people around them. A significant part of Hein’s practice takes place outside conventional museum and gallery settings. His public works often incorporate fountains, benches, mirrors, and other architectural or functional elements into parks, plazas, streets, and other shared environments. Projects such as *Appearing Rooms* and *Water Pavilion* use water and movement to create temporary architectures that change according to the presence and position of visitors. In these situations, the artwork becomes a social space in which strangers can unexpectedly share an experience, interact with one another, and reconsider their relationship to the surrounding environment. Hein has exhibited internationally at major institutions, including MoMA PS1 in New York, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and other museums and exhibition venues across Europe, North America, and Asia. He has also participated in the Venice Biennale, including the 50th edition in 2003. His work is held in public collections and has been realised in permanent public contexts, including installations at ARKEN in Denmark, LaGuardia Airport in New York, and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Across his practice, Hein explores how participation, perception, movement, and play can alter our understanding of everyday spaces. By placing the viewer at the centre of the work, he transforms sculpture and installation into situations that unfold through direct experience. His practice ultimately proposes art not as something to be observed from a distance, but as an environment in which perception, physical presence, social interaction, and curiosity become fundamental parts of the work itself.