A DIFFERENT PILGRIMAGE TO VERSAILLES

Laurent and Jerome had just come back from the Mauritius Islands and I was impatient to catch up with news. To my delight they ‘phoned and suggested Versailles as an outing on the Sunday. Usually Anne and I visit Versailles once a year. A pilgrimage to discover the artist who has been chosen to install « something » in the grounds and sometimes in the chateau. Over the years you have seen our discoveries but this year, the critics had slashed the installations even more than usual.



Olafur Eliasson had been a discovery for me at the Tate in London with the weather project installed at the London's Tate Modern in 2003 as part of the popular Unilever series. The installation filled the open space of the gallery's Turbine Hall. Quite startling.



In all probability we had also seen his work at the Biennale in 2005. Another place was for sure. The Fondation Louis Vuitton in  2015. There I know that I had been most impressed.

The First Visit to the Foundation with Marielle

Anyway, I knew the name and knew what he was on about. The critics for the annual Versailles Installations are invariably bad. Since 2008 there have been a number of exhibitions dedicated to French or foreign artists, each one lasting a few months. Jeff Koons in 2008, Xavier Veilhan in 2009, Takashi Murakami in 2010, Bernard Venet in 2011, Joana Vasconcelos in 2012, Giuseppe Penone in 2013, Lee Ufan in 2014 and Anish Kapoor in 2015: l had seen them all.


Mixing the old and the new is not what is approved of by those living in Versailles. But, as the critics were so bad, when Anne, said « no » - I was quite relieved!  Laurent and Jerome had been warned so we would see what we would see. When you see his home page and how the installations are installed - I’m sure you will be impressed too. 



AS THEY SHOULD BE SEEN

We did NOT see them like this. 

But who is he? 
Eliasson is a Danish-Icelandic artist known for sculptures and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience. I don’t really think there is much more that I need to say.

We started off in the Chateau itself. There were five to see there. If you have looked at the photos which we could use, you will see something totally different here. Looking at the photos which I have done a few times before writing this made me aware of the spectators - they were in odd positions : the installation seemed to distort us all : but have a look yourself. Do you see anything which really describes our today’s world? Well? All those youngsters talking on their smart phones and looking rather blankly at a work….fortunately there were no Pokemon Go to be found inside the chateau….


Your sense of unity - 2016




Deep mirror (Yellow) - 2016





Deep Mirror (Black) 2016

Solar Compression - 2016





The Gaze of Versailles (well really!)

Out in the gardens, the Asians seemed to have « done » their round in the morning. There were still a lot of people around. This particular work « waterfall » looked like a crane when it did not have the water display. Even with the water, I can’t say that I was overly impressed. 

Being sprayed on with sprinklers didn’t overwhelm me either « Fog Assembly »

Waterfall

Fog Assembly

Jean Michel Othoniel "The Sun King's Bells













Glacier Rock Flour Garden wasn’t over inspiring either….

But oh what a pleasure - all the fountains were dancing. I have never seen all of them with their water displays before. 


Versailles

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my videos to work.....

It was magic and being with Laurent and Jerome had made it a perfect day !  




Commentaires

Lo a dit…
I totally agree. The installations by Olafur Eliasson were nothing to write home about except perhaps the one in the Galerie des Glaces. I thoroughly enjoyed our guided tour though and the fountains, and bien sûr spending the day in Versailles together ;-)
26/8/16 11:59
Michael Keane a dit…
Just realised how clinical a circle is.
6/9/16 11:28
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