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Berlin based, Dutch artist Olafur Eliasson created this incredible water installation in the 17th century chateau's gardens. His intention was to make the impossible possible, to finalize the vision of Andre Le Notre, the original designer of the famous gardens of King Louis XIV. Andre always planned on a waterfall for the canal, but it was not to be in his lifetime. Keeping the engineering of the fall open invites the viewer to have an interactive experience with it.
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“The Versailles that I have been dreaming up is a place that empowers everyone. It invites visitors to take control of the authorship of their experience instead of simply consuming and being dazzled by the grandeur. It asks them to exercise their senses, to embrace the unexpected, to drift through the gardens, and to feel the landscape take shape through their movement.”
– Olafur Eliasson
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ph:Vincent Laganier |
Olafur's work is thought of as a cross between art and architecture. He recently won a Crystal Award for bettering the state of our world. He studies and expresses his concern for the world around him. Global warming, electricity, and clean water are some of the subjects explored.
He also created other site specific works placed throughout the palace questioning spatial relationships. They are integrated into the architecture of the chateau in very subtle ways using light, space, metal, and mirrors.
One of them is The Gaze of Versailles ~ "The royal court at Versailles was a place of constant observation – of oneself and others; the strict social norms of the time were enforced through a web of gazes” says Eliasson.
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| * ph: Anders Sune Berg |
The intention of the exhibit's totality is to examine impermanence and transformation. It is interesting to see it thru Olafur's eyes.
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