Divine Art

It was in the Tate Modern that I saw what has come to be one of my favourite pieces of art, "The Weather Project" by Olafur Eliasson, the fourth piece in the series of art works commissioned by Unilever. The piece was displayed inside the gallery's turbine hall, a huge and imposing space which hits you as soon as you enter the gallery.

I live in Ipswich and this was my first visit to the Tate and to be greeted by this piece was nothing short of amazing. The atmosphere created by the 'sun' is both eerie and beautiful, and for a moment you completely forget that you are in London. As well as the dominance of the sun feature, the artist has created a fine mist (made from water and sugar) which circulates through the room, leading you away from it's traditional industrial appearance.

As you gaze up to the ceiling and see the soft mist of orange light, the effect is spell binding. The piece is one huge optical illusion, a mixture of light and mirrors which cast a glow across the room which in some ways is almost scary, because it reminds you of scenes from great epic films like 'Apocalypse Now'. But the most scary, yet striking part of this piece is the audience participation.

Perhaps it's the fact the we here in Britain don't see the sun that often, perhaps it's the clever way in which Eliasson uses mirrors to reflect the amazed faces below the sun, but whatever it is, this piece causes people to completely lose all inhibitions. Hundreds of people that visited the Tate to see this piece, myself included, lay on the ground and gazed up in awe. 

This to me is what's truly amazing and inspirational about this piece of art. I don't regard myself as religious, but I still find this piece of art spiritually uplifting.

(NOTE: this exhibit is no longer showing at the Tate Modern.)