Olafur Eliasson creates immersive environments

This is a fascinating exhibit, although I am somewhat of a fan of his work, and may be biased. The exhibition at the MCA is a retrospective and includes photography and sculpture in addition to his immersive works.

My favorite is 'Room For One Color'. A large gallery is lit with yellow fluorescents, which forces color perception into a narrow frequency band, whereby everything looks desaturated. In a sense you are color blind to only 2 colors. If you ever wanted to see in black in white, this is a good simulation of that.

It is a very small exhibit, and perhaps that is the impetus for the title. But it is worth seeing nevertheless. Go on the free Tuesdays.

clipped from www.mcachicago.org Olafur Eliasson creates immersive environments, sculptures, and photographs that evoke or incorporate atmospheric conditions and landscapes while foregrounding the viewer’s sensory experience of the works. Drawn from collections worldwide, this presentation exhibits over fifteen years of Eliasson's career. His constructions, at once eccentric and highly geometric, use multicolored washes, focused projections of light, mirrors, and elements such as water, stone, and moss to shift the viewer's perception of place and self. By transforming the gallery into a hybrid space of nature and culture, Eliasson prompts an intensive engagement with the world and offers a fresh consideration of everyday life. Take your time: Olafur Eliasson was organized by the MCA’s Pritzker Director Madeleine Grynsztejn, when she was Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and is on view May 1 to September 13, 2009.