Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967, Copenhagen) is a Danish-Icelandic artist who lives and works in Copenhagen and Berlin. Working across installation, sculpture, painting, photography, film, drawing, and architectural projects, Eliasson investigates how people perceive and relate to the world around them, particularly through natural phenomena such as light, water, air, and temperature. His immersive and often participatory works foreground embodied experience as a means of transforming perception and fostering collective reflection. Through both large-scale public interventions and intimate studio works, Eliasson explores the interdependence of human beings and their environments, raising urgent questions about ecology, sustainability, climate change, and social responsibility. His practice frequently brings art, science, design, and activism into dialogue. This approach is evident in projects such as Ice Watch, created with geologist Minik Rosing, which made the effects of climate change tangible by bringing blocks of glacial ice from Greenland to public spaces in Copenhagen, Paris, and London. It can also be seen in Little Sun, the solar-energy initiative that Eliasson co-founded with engineer Frederik Ottesen in 2012. Eliasson has collaborated with TBA21–Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary on initiatives aligned with his longstanding commitment to environmental and social justice, public participation, and transdisciplinary dialogue. Among these is Green light—An artistic workshop, first presented at TBA21–Augarten in Vienna in 2016. Developed with refugees, asylum seekers, cultural organizations, students, and members of the public, the project combined the collaborative construction of modular lamps with an educational and social program addressing migration, civic engagement, and collective responsibility.