Parliament of Reality – A permanent installation by artist Olafur Eliasson …
- Olafur Eliasson Installation – Deborah Esrick photo
in the Hudson River Valley. In this environmental artwork – completed between 2006-2009 – Eliasson achieves a clarity of design with elements focusing upon an island of bluestone encircled by a pond. Commissioned for the Bard College campus in upstate New York by the Center for Curatorial Studies, the setting is embraced by a ring of 24 trees.
- Eliasson Installation at Bard College – Deborah Esrick photo
Access to the island is via a bridgeway covered by a steel latticework passage.
- Parliament of Reality – Photo: Olafur Eliasson Studio
In the center of the pond, the island’s circular form resonates with distinctive stone paving, forming a 12-point pattern that references the meridian lines of nautical charts and the compass.
Eliasson Installation: Deborah Esrick Photo
- Born in Denmark to Icelandic parents, Olafur Eliasson found inspiration for the work in the Icelandic Parliament: the Althingi.
- Eliasson Installation – Photo: Bess Reynolds
The Parliament of Reality is located on the north end of Bard’s campus, in a field near the Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts building.
- Eliasson Installation Detail – flickr photo by yooperann
- Eliasson’s Parliament of Reality – Photo: Bess Reynolds
Soundtrack, as I reviewed this post: “Oooo. Ooo. I want that. Oooh. So cool.”
Not as x-rated as it sounds! However, a certain degree of garden lust is involved.
Beautiful lines, stunning pieces. Query how restful, but that is probably not the point. Thanks for the curation!
Dear Alice, What a remarkable piece of contemporary art. I love the floaty feeling of the bluestone island and the access via the mesh covered walkway is, I can imagine, an experience in itself. I have never heard of this artist before but somehow the work does have a Scandinavian edge to it – perhaps the minimalist rock formations and the uncompromisingly contemporary feel to the work.
Thank you for introducing me to this artist and for the virtual experience of the installation.
Hi Alice! Thank you for the lovely comment you left me. That installation is amazing – such talent! Can people walk through it? It looks big enough but then in another pic I wasn’t sure if it was. Anyway, seems very calming.
It would work better for me with lotus all around, looking like they might overwhelm the metal with their fecund exuberance. And I’d probably also cover the mesh with blooming vines to block the heat of the sun in summer — but the kind of vines that go dormant in winter so you could still appreciate the skeleton at some point.
But then, I’m obviously not a contemporary artist…
Thanks for stopping by my blog, Alice. Your blog looks lovely, so well-designed!