Olafur Eliasson

"Published to accompany the first UK retrospective of Olafur Eliasson'swork, this book is conceived as an illustrated `field guide' to hispractice. Featuring a substantial conversation between the artist andthe Tate curator Mark Godfrey, as well as a range of short dialogueswith a strikingly varied range of people working both inside andoutside the arts - from anthropology, economics, political science,and biology to architecture and urbanism, dance, music, and food -the book provides readers with a `compass' to Eliasson's thinking: a360-degree view of the frames of reference that inform his work.Eliasson builds such conversations into his daily life and work.They help him not only to understand other people's unique fieldsof knowledge, but also to ask, `What does my understandingof your knowledge do to my understanding of the world?', andtouch on topics as wide-ranging as the social and cultural factorsthat contribute to social trust, the `topography' of scent, thechronobiological effects of light, public space and civic infrastructure,and the power of art.The interweaving of these texts with stunning photography of hisremarkable and immersive works provides an insight into whatEliasson calls his ongoing aim of `reaching out into the world'."