The cubic structural evolution project 2004

Suzie’s post on lego made me think of one of my favourite works in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Collection, The cubic structural evolution project 2004. The work was purchased through the Foundation in 2005 and has been seen in a number of exhibitions over the years. The work is currently back at the Gallery, in a grubby state after a year long tour throughout regional Queensland.

The cubic structural evolution project 2004 is a "participatory art work in which viewers contribute to the construction of a Lego world. It is a work in which Eliasson encourages a very direct level of engagement. Viewers are able to actively guide their experience of the work as it organically takes shape over the duration of its installation."

Olafur Eliasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1967, where he studied at the Danish Academy of Art from 1989 to 1995. He retains a strong connection to Iceland, his parents’ homeland, the dramatic landscape and climate has been an important source of inspiration.

Central to Eliasson’s work is a consideration of how we perceive and experience the world. Often he fabricates natural looking phenomena (such as sunlight, flowing water or mist) in man-made environments such as an art gallery. These fabricated phenomena directly engage his audience’s senses and prompt reflections on how we experience things. Eliasson has described this effect as the ability ‘to see yourself seeing’.

Further information can be found on the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) website qag.qld.gov.au