360° room for all colours 2002

Olafur Eliasson created this immersive environment to offer us an experience where we can be absorbed by colour. It makes me think about the physical sensation of colour, of being bathed in pink, like the sunset, or sinking into purple like twilight. I can imagine Eliasson thinking about how to create an encounter with colour that is more like entering into a painting. There's a figure walking through the space, whose presence, like ours, activates a sense of scale. This person becomes a way for us to imagine ourselves in this world of shifting light and colour. Eliasson has always been interested in how we perceive the world, and how we can use art to heighten our awareness of our own senses. Here, there is the invitation to be open to the experience of colour and light. It is a reminder of the embodied nature of our perceptions. Like a painter, Eliasson seems to be using colours to express feelings and ideas, and like any good painting, the possibilities are endless.