Friday, September 13, 2024
Local social media has been buzzing with curiosity ever since a "big yellow dome" was installed on the patio at Mulva Cultural Center.
While some have speculated that it may be related to the current LEGO exhibit on display, that the yellow dome is the actual sculpture or that it’s meant to look like a Minion from Despicable Me, one thing is certain — “it must be something very exciting!”
While the Mulva Cultural Center isn’t ready to spoil the surprise and reveal exactly what is in the works just yet, they have revealed details about the artist behind the sculpture being created under the dome.
The sculpture, titled “The Curious Planet,” is a new work from Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who is currently based in Berlin, Germany.
“The Curious Planet” has been in planning for over two years, generously supported by Jim and Miriam Mulva, who have been actively involved in its development, visiting Eliasson’s studio in Germany and engaging closely with him and his talented team.
What awaits us at Mulva Cultural Center is truly a unique opportunity to engage with artwork by a world-renowned artist.
Eliasson's works explore the profound impact of art on the world. Born in 1967, Eliasson studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1989 to 1995, before establishing Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin.
The studio includes a diverse team of craftspeople, architects, researchers, administrators, cooks, programmers, art historians, and specialized technicians.
On site in De Pere, the project is managed by three remarkable individuals.
Ilja Leda, from Eliasson’s studio, oversees design and ensures meticulous attention to detail to realize the artist's vision.
Tillman Vanhöf supports Ilja in development and production, leveraging expertise in computer-aided design and 3D modeling for on-site installation.
Additionally, Hanko Stensland, owner of Danish company Struer Facader, brings extensive construction management expertise to the project. Stensland has collaborated on notable projects like the Opera and DR Huset in
Copenhagen.
Situated on the terrace of the center, “The Curious Planet” will be on view starting from the end of August 2024.
The sculpture reflects the center’s vision by uniting the arts and sciences in a globe-shaped network of trails and pathways.
“It is tempting to see the world as a solid, relatively stable, unchanging sphere. It is an image that is so familiar as to be mundane. The truth is, however, that the world is constantly in motion and these movements are sometimes too fast to capture and sometimes too slow to comprehend. Water is constantly circulating through the oceans and rivers and into the atmosphere in weather patterns that unfold quickly and seemingly unpredictably. Not to mention the activities of humans and the migration of animals in herds and flocks. On the other extreme, the changes in climate,
the ice ages and desertification; the movement of tectonic plates; the creation and destruction of mountain ranges all unfold over millennia. ‘The Curious Planet,’ 2024, my new artwork for Mulva Cultural Center, envisions a globe of
networks. Reminiscent of brain synapses, lava trails, or ripple marks, these networks mirror the intricate web of connections that bind us together to our environments. The curious planet places faith in the recognition that everything is connected and constantly evolving,” said Eliasson of the project.
The curious planet consists of four layers of progressively more complex geometrical forms.
Expanding exponentially from the core, the globe contains several implied layers, each more complex than the last.
The emphasis of the work, however, lies not on this geometrical substructure, but on the root-like bronze crossbars that connect the layers, extending outwards from its heart.
Circular panes of blue glass float inside the structure, and irregular hexagonal fading mirrors form some of the faces of the outermost layer.
At night, when the work is illuminated from within, the combination of materials, angles, and shapes conjures a diverse interplay of light, color, and shadows.
For nearly three decades, Eliasson has explored the conditions that inform our perception in sculptures, installations, paintings, photographs and public projects.
“The Curious Planet” furthers Eliasson’s ambition to promote a greater awareness of the way we engage with and interpret the world.
