It was only a matter of time until the mega art institutions got video right. A good example of this are the nicely produced videos on artist Olafur Eliasson that help introduce and explain the work that is currently on view at MOMA. Mr. Eliasson has another show at PS1 through June 30, 2008.
An interesting take on the work of Mr. Eliasson by Peter Schjeldahl can be found in The New Yorker. "What are these works, besides fun? Perhaps not much, in themselves. They are choice instances of institutionally parasitic art that exists only because space-rich, audience-hungry museums and Kunsthallen must fill their schedules with something, and preferably not the inefficiently small and expensively insured objects that are traditional paintings and sculptures. I have been unhappy with the reign of such circusy manifestations, which are called into being less by anyone’s desire than as fulfillments of a job description. (Our jobs constrict us. Art should give us compensatory glimpses of freedom.) But there is a lyrical aura to any job that is done really well, and Eliasson routinely distills that aura into a Platonic essence of know-how and impeccable execution."
Philadelphia critics on Olafur Eliasson
Color Schemes at City Paper
Color Me Rad at Philadelphia Weekly
Above, “I Only See Things When They Move,” 2004 by Olafur Eliasson. Courtesy Tanya Bonakder Gallery, NY.
