Olafur Eliasson: Space in Progress

An inspiring film following the great artist Olafur Eliassion for four years through his life, work, concepts and thinking.

Year

2010

Length

52 min

Directors

Hendrik Lundø & Jacob Jørgensen

“Olafur Eliasson: Space in Progress” is the portrait of one of the greatest and most influential contemporary artists. The film follows the silver-tongued but reclusive academic and artist from 2004 to 2009 and tries to understand the meaning of Olafur and his art mission: Creating installations that change the environment the spectator is used to and, therefore, the spectator’s state of mind.

Eliasson does not want elitist art. Art should be playful, democratic and not exclusive – a mass attraction that makes sense. In his installations, the artistic and the “natural” are equally involved. This generates experiences that are sensual, emotional and intellectual all at the same time. By integrating the beauty of nature into urban landscapes, he creates mind-opening urban oases and spaces that question our concept of the authentic nature experience and inspire the reflection of the public space. This form of reflection provokes to change the personal perception of space and movement.

The film offers insight into the work of the extraordinary, creative talent Olafur Eliasson and follows him to New York, where he realises one of his most complex works – the artificial New York Waterfalls. It takes him two years, 15 million dollars and a team of 200 workers to build the four waterfalls in the New York East River. Furthermore, Eliasson takes us to the retrospective “Take Your Time” in the Museum of Modern Art and PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York.

Together with Eliasson the film investigates how time and social, ideological and technical structures shape our worldview and our perception of places in this world. He expresses his ideas and concepts by using the cinema screen as an optical frame. Light, space and perception play a central role in his works, works that build a unit with the spectator in that the spectator not only observes but becomes part of the installation.

A filmic journey through Olafur Eliasson’s world of creation – inspiring, playful, provocative.

Credits

Directors
Henrik Lundø
Jacob Jørgensen

Script
Henrik Lundø
Mads Jørgensen

Director of Photography
Mads Jørgensen

Editors
Henrik Lundø
Anders Refn

Sound
Jørgen Bo Behrensdorff
Thomas Gulyás
Bo Brøndum
Søren Holstebro

Sound design
Stig Sparre-Ulrich

Music
Rump Recordings

Producer
Jacob Jørgensen

Co-Producer
Christian Beetz

Sales & distribution

Trailer

„Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

17.05.2018