Thumbnails Images Information
Observatory for seeing the atmosphere’s futures, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Observatory for seeing the atmosphere’s futures, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Installation view of 'Olafur Eliasson: Open' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, 2024  - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Installation view of 'Olafur Eliasson: Open' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Installation view of 'Olafur Eliasson: Open' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, 2024  - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Installation view of 'Olafur Eliasson: Open' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Installation view: Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Installation view: Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Device for seeing potential solar futures, 2024, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Device for seeing potential solar futures, 2024, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Device for seeing potential solar futures, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Device for seeing potential solar futures, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Observatory for seeing the atmosphere’s futures, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Observatory for seeing the atmosphere’s futures, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Observatory for seeing the atmospheres futures - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Observatory for seeing the atmospheres futures
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end, 2024. - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end, 2024.
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end -  The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Viewing machine for imagining oceanic futures, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Viewing machine for imagining oceanic futures, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Viewing machine for imagining oceanic futures, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Viewing machine for imagining oceanic futures, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Viewing machine for imagining oceanic futures, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Viewing machine for imagining oceanic futures, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
 Installation view: Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Installation view: Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Weather drawing observatory for the future, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Weather drawing observatory for the future, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Weather-drawing observatory for the future, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Weather-drawing observatory for the future, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Weather-drawing observatory for the future -  The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Weather-drawing observatory for the future
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Your OPEN experience at the reading room - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Your OPEN experience at the reading room
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Your OPEN experience - Photo: Olafur Eliasson
Your OPEN experience
Photo: Olafur Eliasson
Your OPEN experience at the reading room - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Your OPEN experience at the reading room
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Pluriverse assembly, 2021 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Pluriverse assembly, 2021
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Pluriverse assembly, 2021 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Pluriverse assembly, 2021
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Your sunset shadow, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Your sunset shadow, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Your sunset shadow, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Your sunset shadow, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Your sunset shadow, 2024, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Your sunset shadow, 2024, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for plural perspectives, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for plural perspectives, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for plural perspectives, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Kaleidoscope for plural perspectives, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Kaleidoscope for uncertainty and surprises, 2024, 2024. - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for uncertainty and surprises, 2024, 2024.
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for uncertainty and surprises, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Kaleidoscope for uncertainty and surprises, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Studio Olafur Eliasson
Kaleidoscope for uncertainty and surprises, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Kaleidoscope for uncertainty and surprises, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
 Installation view of 'Olafur Eliasson: Open' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Installation view of 'Olafur Eliasson: Open' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Seeing paintings installation view, Open, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Photo: Zak Kelley
Seeing paintings installation view, Open, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles
Photo: Zak Kelley
Your changing atmosphere, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Your changing atmosphere, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Tomorrow's daylight, 2021 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Tomorrow's daylight, 2021
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Your changing atmosphere, 2024 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Your changing atmosphere, 2024
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Your mutual appreciation compass, 2022 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
Your mutual appreciation compass, 2022
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
10 meter cable for all colours, 2004 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
10 meter cable for all colours, 2004
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
The listening dimension (orbit 1, orbit 2, orbit 3), 2017 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
The listening dimension (orbit 1, orbit 2, orbit 3), 2017
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
The listening dimension (orbit 1), 2017 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
The listening dimension (orbit 1), 2017
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
The listening dimension (orbit 2), 2017 - The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024 - Photo: Zak Kelley
The listening dimension (orbit 2), 2017
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles – 2024
Photo: Zak Kelley
Device for seeing potential solar futures
'Device for seeing potential solar futures', 2024 is part of a series of installations within the exhibition 'Olafur Eliasson: OPEN' responding to MOCA Geffen’s building and the atmospheric conditions of Los Angeles. Eliasson draws attention to the relativity of our perception and challenges habitual ways of seeing and experiencing the world. The work feels like something built for the space programme. The abutting mirrors reflect the shape again and again, conjuring the illusion of a planet or sun floating in the virtual space above. Plastic garbage floats around inside this kaleidoscope, circulating around within it like ‘space junk’, as the artist calls it. From outside, visitors can see the tubes and pipes that conduct air into the shaft to keep the garbage in motion.

Video by SHIMURAbros
Music by mamoru
Watch on soe.tv ⤶
Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end
'Kaleidoscope for beginning at the end', 2024 is part of a series of installations within the exhibition 'Olafur Eliasson: OPEN' responding to MOCA Geffen’s building and the atmospheric conditions of Los Angeles. Eliasson draws attention to the relativity of our perception and challenges habitual ways of seeing and experiencing the world. A black viscous fluid composed of oil, ink, and water oozes around the backlit equilateral triangle at the top of this kaleidoscope. Its movements and shapes are transformed by the mirrors into a slowly evolving rhythmic pattern that wraps the surface of a glowing geodesic planet. Light and dark shift as the fluid fills the aperture and spreads out again. The hypnotic patterns appear both geometric and organic. The ambiguous view could exist either on a macro- or microscopic level, providing us with the glimpse of a distant sun or the contents of a petri dish.

Video by SHIMURAbros
Music by mamoru
Watch on soe.tv ⤶
Kaleidoscope for uncertainty and surprises
Observatory for seeing the atmosphere's future
'Observatory for seeing the atmosphere’s futures', 2024 is part of a series of installations within the exhibition 'Olafur Eliasson: OPEN' responding to MOCA Geffen’s building and the atmospheric conditions of Los Angeles. Eliasson draws attention to the relativity of our perception and challenges habitual ways of seeing and experiencing the world. The work feels like something built for the space programme. The tapering, four-sided kaleidoscope extends through the ceiling of the Geffen to provide a view of the atmosphere above the museum. The square opening at the top frames a patch of sky that is reflected in the mirror walls and, because of the angles of the mirrors, seems to curve off in all directions to form a sphere. The colours of the work change with the weather and the time of day. 

Video by SHIMURAbros
Music by mamoru
Watch on soe.tv ⤶
Video by Jeremy Eichenbaum.
Rehearsal room for spatial imagination
'Viewing machine for imagining oceanic futures', 2024 is part of a series of installations within the exhibition 'Olafur Eliasson: OPEN' responding to MOCA Geffen’s building and the atmospheric conditions of Los Angeles. Eliasson draws attention to the relativity of our perception and challenges habitual ways of seeing and experiencing the world. The work feels like something built for the space programme. Positioned directly beneath a skylight, this enormous kaleidoscope is the only one in the gallery with walls that do not taper up to the top. The resulting reflections appear to extend to infinity, an effect that is magnified by strips of LEDs that echo the grid of the skylight. An immense vat of water at the top periodically tilts back and forth to unleash waves that cascade slowly from one end to the other and are reflected rhythmically as they trouble the grid of the skylight and LEDS and the sky above. Standing beneath this massive opening, the viewer has the sense of being underwater, of gazing into an impossible, inaccessible space above.

Video by SHIMURAbros
Music by mamoru
Watch on soe.tv ⤶
1 of 58

Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, 2024

Olafur Eliasson: OPEN is the first major solo exhibition of Olafur Eliasson in Los Angeles, OPEN is part of the landmark Getty initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide. Continuing Eliasson’s career-long exploration of light and colour, geometry, and environmental awareness, the exhibition presents a series of site-specific installations responding to MOCA Geffen’s building and the atmospheric conditions of Los Angeles.

Olafur Eliasson: OPEN features over a dozen works commissioned for MOCA, along with a selection of recent works organised around the artist’s research on perception, optical devices, physics and natural phenomena, navigational instruments, and colour experimentation. Eliasson draws attention to the relativity of our perception and challenges habitual ways of seeing and experiencing the world. The exhibition is informed by the artist’s belief in the potential of inconclusiveness—the idea that every artwork contains an aspect that is radically open.

Your OPEN experience is a tool for experimenting, experiencing, and reflecting based on the artworks in the exhibition. It is developed by the artist and his studio in Berlin, Studio Olafur Eliasson (SOE) and Experimenting, Experiencing, Reflecting (EER), an art-science project led by artist Olafur Eliasson and scientist Andreas Roepstorff (Aarhus University) and funded by the Carlsberg Foundation (2019-2025).