Olafur Olafsson is probably the most unusual artist of the 20th and 21st century. What makes him unusual from other artist's is that, Olafur doesn't do what a lot of other artist's do, in art, architecture, and just the way he presents himself. For example,(this IS a little thing, but it shows how much Olafur is different) on Olafur's official site, he writes first where he was born, what art school he went to, and what country(s) he lives in, what's so unusual about this is that most artist's would put down this long and quite frankly boring autobiography of where they were born, what they wore to school everyday (they didn't really), and then finally after all the boring tid-bits, we finally get to the part where they start to talk about their art( which we're about to do right now).
I first saw Olafur's work when his "Take your time" exhibit came to the San Francisco MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in 2007. It was probably o
ne of the best exhibit's I have ever seen at SFMoMA. A lot of people have been saying that Olafur's work has really brought in this sort of scientific-modern approach to art. I have asked a few people who've seen Olafur's work and asked them what they thought about what they saw in his work, I asked Rye Purvis what she thought about Olafur's work and she told me "I thought it was refreshing and surreal, especially compared to the two-dimensional art work that a lot of people see in the art environment, I thought it was interesting how he meshed science and fine art". In conversation with a co-artist she told me that "While I found it enjoyable and refreshing, it relied on the concept of the spectacle much like a theme park and or a coster ride. In that sense I left the show with little to reconsider and no emotional transitions".
I asked my co-artist if she saw the Weather project at the Tate museum in London, and her response was "that was an amazing experience. What's different for me in this work, as compared to his show in San Francisco, is that it was a relational experience that also connected deeply to our daily experience as individuals in the "natural" world." So this now ends my bit on Olafur's work and I hope you enjoy.
Article by Myles Jones Mendoza
Image source : http://www.olafureliasson.net/works.html
