Installation artist Olafur Eliasson is celebrated for his expansive immersive works that dominate vast sections of prestigious galleries worldwide. His latest creation, ‘Lifeworld’, extends his grand vision into public spaces, taking over iconic locations such as London’s Piccadilly Circus, Seoul’s K-Pop Square, Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm, and New York’s Times Square. Beginning on 1 October, ‘Lifeworld’ will be showcased in these key cities across the UK, South Korea, Germany, and the USA.
The bustling advertising billboards in these vibrant areas will halt their constant barrage of commercials to display Eliasson’s opulent artworks. ‘Lifeworld’ will feature a blurred, abstract video that invites viewers to pause and contemplate. This stark contrast to the precise, commercial imagery that typically fills these prime urban spots is both striking and thought-provoking.
Across the four cities, ‘Lifeworld’ will be displayed every evening at 20:24 from 1 October to 31 December, with the New York version occurring at 23:57. In Times Square, the installation will be particularly grand, covering all 92 screens of this tourist hotspot. Eliasson’s timing for this ambitious project is deliberate, particularly in the US, where the upcoming election serves as a catalyst for encouraging public engagement with “a plurality of perspectives”.
“‘Lifeworld’ delves into how soft abstraction—images intentionally left undefined and open to personal interpretation—can illuminate our place in the world in 2024,” explains Eliasson. “Sites like Piccadilly and Times Square are monumental spectacles, usually filled with sharp, sensational imagery. While thrilling, they also drive consumer behavior. ‘Lifeworld’ reimagines these spaces, its hazy qualities prompting deeper questions about our choices and our roles in shaping our cities and environments.”
Eliasson’s work has always challenged viewers to confront their relationship with nature. His iconic ‘The weather project’, which transformed the Turbine Hall of London’s Tate Modern Gallery in 2003 with a glowing indoor sun, remains a landmark in immersive art. Following this, ‘Ice Watch’, which debuted in Copenhagen in 2014 and later traveled to Paris and London, brought massive glacier ice blocks to public spaces, allowing people to physically engage with the reality of climate change.
With ‘Lifeworld’, Eliasson’s work will reach an unprecedented audience, not confined to gallery spaces but accessible to anyone in these public areas or via virtual streaming on WeTransfer. This expansive approach marks a significant shift for the 57-year-old artist, whose confrontational and sublime works have long interrogated humanity’s interaction with the natural world.
