Green light

Growing out of the communal spirit of Olafur Eliasson’s studio, Green light – An artistic workshop was realized in collaboration with TBA21 in Vienna, Austria, in 2016. The project established a collaborative workshop around the fabrication of lamps called “green lights”, made by asylum seekers and refugees in the city. Offering its participants learning engagements and socio-economic access during times of transition and personal crisis, the project was designed as an act of welcome, shining a metaphorical green light on asylum seekers and refugees in response to the refugee crisis. Green light included several workshops and iterations: in Vienna in 2016 and in Venice, Italy, Houston, Texas, USA, and Yokohama, Japan in 2017, all organized in collaboration with local NGOs. In each of these cities, the project raised funds in support of humanitarian aid and educational activities offered to people on the move.

Green light – An artistic workshop invited groups of thirty to forty refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, and other students and community partners to take part in an artistic process of collaborative learning and crafting, offering space for exchange between participants from different backgrounds. Through its communal fabrication process, Green light elicited various forms of participation and engagements and investigated a variety of perspectives on migration, citizenship, statelessness, arrival, memory, and belonging. In addition to the artistic workshop, the Shared learning public program was designed for the participants and consisted of music and video workshops, educational seminars, and artist-led initiatives, alongside language courses, job training, psychological counseling, and legal advice.

The luminous crystals of the Green light lamps are polyhedral units fitted with small green LEDs. The unique form of the Green light module is based on the cube and the golden triangle; it was invented by Eliasson’s long-time collaborator and friend Einar Thorsteinn (1942–2015) as part of numerous geometric studies they undertook at the studio. Made mostly from recycled materials, the units can function independently or be combined in a variety of architectural or sculptural configurations. They create a constantly expanding environment in the exhibition space that tells the tale of this collective production.

(Text written by TBA21 and used as short text in the booklet of the exhibition "Remedios", C3A, Córdoba, 2023)