Your Glacial Expectations

Description

The site-specific artwork Your Glacial Expectations is the result of an extraordinary collaboration between artist Olafur Eliasson and landscape architect Gunther Vogt. Created in 2012 for the headquarters of the Danish textile company Kvadrat, the work consists of an installation by Eliasson seamlessly integrated into a landscape designed by Vogt. Large mirrors laid into rolling grassland echo circular and oval groves of trees that dot the landscape around the site in Ebeltoft. Like the glassy surfaces of glacial pools, the mirrors reflect the changing sky: they blur the boundaries between above and below, inside and out. Within this book, photographs by Iwan Baan, Casper Sejersen and Annabel Elston document the artwork and landscape through changing seasons, capturing their ephemeral qualities. A literary contribution by Danish novelist Josefine Klougart responds to the work with reflections on inner and outer landscapes, and draws on personal memories of a childhood spent in the nearby Mols Mountains. Designed by Graphic Thought Facility and Peter Saville, the book also features texts by Kvadrat CEO Anders Byriel, geologist Minik Rosing, and insights into the working practices of Olafur Eliasson and Gunther Vogt.

Olafur Eliasson is an artist known for sculptures and large-scale installations which utilize natural elements, including light, water, fire and wood, often combined to re-create the outdoors inside. Born in 1967 he grew up in Iceland and Denmark. He studied, from 1989 to 1995, at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark. His work is represented in public and private collections including the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Deste Foundation, Athens and the Tate, London. He represented Denmark in the 2003 Venice Biennale. He lives and works in Berlin. Landscape architect Gunther Vogt develops projects with some 40 employees in his offices in Zurich, London and Berlin.

Attractively designed, thoughtful, and engaging... Located in a stunningly beautiful region with a topography that was carved by glaciers, [this] project incorporates existing grassland and diverse native plant species. Eliasson's contribution was five large circular and elliptical mirrors placed in the ground that reflect the sky and clouds and the surrounding plant life. Wonderful color photography shows the area over four seasons. For those interested in contemporary art, landscape architecture, and natural history.-- "Library Journal"