OLAFUR ELIASSON ONCE AGAIN CHASING SUN:
‘OUR GLACIAL PERSPECTIVES’
Amidst the Mount Grawand, South Tyrol’s Hochjochferner glacier, stands a gigantic, immersive and experiential Astronomical Installation ‘our glacial perspectives’ by Olafur Eliasson.The Artist directs the visitor’s attention to a larger planetary perspective on the changes in climate that are directly affecting hochjochferner.
The mountain’s glacial has a carved ridge of 410 meters. The path is incrementally divided by nine gates that are spaced at intervals mimicking the durations of earth’s ice ages, marking a deep timeline of the planet, of ice, and of the environment.
‘Our glacial perspectives’ pavilion comprises a series of steel and glass rings encompassing a circular deck which projects over the edge of mount grand. The rings divide the year into equal time intervals – the top ring tracks the sun’s path on the summer solstice, the middle ring follows the equinox, while the lowest track the winter solstice.
Each ring of the pavilion, ‘our glacial perspectives’ is divided into rectangular glass panes that demarcate fifteen arc minutes of the sun’s movement across the sky. This allows the viewer to determine the time of day based on the position of the sun. Marking the horizon, the cardinal directions, and the movement of the sun.The glass panes of the sun-path are tinted various shades of blue in reference to the cyanometer, a scale developed in the nineteenth century for measuring the blueness of the sky. The colored glass, filters and reflects light and solar radiation, behaving as a mini-atmosphere.
‘Our glacial perspectives’ was recently installed as a permanent public artwork on october 9th, 2020.
Text by Rageshree Ranade
Image Courtesy: Studio Olafur Eliasson, David Orru.
Find out more about the Artist and Art work:
https://www.urdesignmag.com/art/2020/10/14/our-glacial-perspectives-olafur-eliasson/
