Olafur Eliasson: Miracles of Rare Device

The film follows Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and his team through the complex preparation for the Real Life exhibition at the Tate Modern in late 2019, a follow-up to the extraordinary success of his Weather Project (2003), which was visited by over two million spectators. The central theme of Real Life, and the basis of most of Eliasson’s work, is the interaction between natural elements such as water and light with the viewer’s physical perception of space. From his large studio-laboratory in Berlin where more than a hundred researchers, builders and collaborators work together to make works that are more experiences than objects, the film moves on to the artist’s recent work in the field of sensorial architecture and public projects, such as the Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall (completed in 2011), the Fjiordenhus (completed in 2018), the Cirkelbroen Bridge (2015), the Rainbow Panorama (completed in 2011). Several of his collaborators and friends are interviewed, including politician Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, president of Iceland for 20 years, and Fab 5 Freddy, a hip hop pioneer who comments on Eliasson’s passion for breakdancing.