A Harmonious Cycle of Interconnected Nows: Olafur Eliasson's Solo Exhibition at Azabudai Hills
Exhibition view “Firefly biosphere (magma falling star)” 2023 Photo by Tokyo Art Beat
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Newest art spot in Tokyo: Azabudai Hills
Following in the footsteps of Roppongi Hills and Toranomon Hills, a new large-scale mixed-use commercial complex, Azabudai Hills, opened its doors on November 24. Envisioned as a green city that brings people together through its “plaza” - the Modern Urban Village - the complex includes a large central plaza accompanied by offices, residences, a hotel, an international school, retail shops, cultural facilities, and several art-related venues. One of the largest of these spaces is the new Azabudai Hills Gallery.
To celebrate the opening, the gallery will host an inaugural exhibition entitled Olafur Eliasson: A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows from November 24 to March 31, 2024. The exhibition is curated by Mami Kataoka (Director, Mori Art Museum) and Hirokazu Tokuyama (Associate Curator, Mori Art Museum).
Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (born 1967) is internationally renowned not only for his diverse genre-crossing works but also for his proactive engagement with social issues, including the climate crisis. Through sensory experiences guided by natural phenomena, color, light, and movement, he stimulates new perspectives on the relationship between man and nature. Choosing Eliasson for the opening of Azabudai Hills, which embodies the spirit of ‘green’ and ‘wellness,’ fits seamlessly with the broader aspirations of the new complex.
Public art in Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower
Before heading to the Azabudai Hills Gallery, it is worth stopping by Eliasson’s new public artwork, A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows (2023), located at the highest tower of the complex - Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower.
Inspired by slowness, deep time (geologic time), and the hidden structures of quantum geometry, the work is composed of repeated geometric modules. As part of the artist’s commitment to sustainability, the piece uses an experimental technique of casting recycled metals.
The curator of the exhibition and the Director of the Mori Art Museum, Mami Kataoka, shared the following message on the official website:
This work is made up of a complex series of polyhedra that evoke the trajectory of a single point that twists as it moves. It alludes not only to the connections between all manner of things at an atomic level but also the invisible time and reciprocal connections across things, such as the history that has accumulated over the terrain of the Azabudai area, the magnetic forces newly generated by human activities and lives, and the energy of Earth as a planet. Eliasson, who grew up surrounded by the natural beauty of Denmark and Iceland, has been a leading voice in the contemporary art world in terms of addressing the urgent issues facing the world today, such as the climate crisis, and this is the first time Studio Olafur Eliasson has used recycled metal.
Azabudai Hills Gallery
Azabudai Hills Gallery is located on the MB floor of the Garden Plaza A building. Walking from the Mori JP Tower, it’s approximately a five-minute walk through the central plaza. Alternatively, there’s a direct underground route from the Kamiyacho station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya line.
Upon entering the venue, visitors are met by an orange glow reflected by the Firefly biosphere (magma falling star) (2023). This small polyhedron, resulting from decades of research in Studio Olafur Eliasson, is one of a series of sixteen related hanging sculptures.
The next room features The endless study (2005). When a piece of paper is placed in the “harmonograph,” a machine that uses a pendulum to create geometric images, the pen begins to record the rhythms of the circular movement. The work is part of Studio Olafur Eliasson’s exploration of the correlation between space and sound.
The same space also features drawings and three-dimensional works. For example, The air we breathe (2023) is a new work created specifically for this exhibition. Similar to A harmonious cycle of interconnected nows, it utilizes the same modules and recycled materials, and both pieces are Eliasson’s first works to focus on recycled metals.
A highlight of the exhibition is the large-scale water installation Your split second house (2010). Set in a dark room over 5 meters high and over 20 meters long, the exhibition area is illuminated by flashes of light, revealing the sculptural movement of water in each fleeting moment. Viewers are invited to reflect on concepts of transience and eternity, subjectivity and objectivity, inner and outer, and gravity and anti-gravity through the abstract representation of curves endlessly created by water and light. This work also represents Eliasson’s study of geometric forms and the inherent beauty he has found in natural materials over the years.
Cafe and shop
One floor down is the Azabudai Hills Gallery Cafe and official shop.
For the duration of the exhibition, the cafe collaborates with Studio Olafur Eliasson Kitchen, creating a special menu using ingredients from the Tokyo area. Before the opening, a chef from Japan was dispatched to Eliasson’s studio in Berlin to co-develop an original menu for the exhibition. Check out the article below for more details.
Environmental initiatives
The exhibition integrates several environmental initiatives. For example, to reduce CO2 emissions during the transportation of the works, the Studio proposed that the works be shipped by sea rather than by air. Moreover, the amount of transportation required was drastically reduced by producing Your split second house in Japan. The flyers and posters are also printed on FSC-certified “MTA+-FS” paper.
The collaboration cafe’s menu is also prepared in an eco-friendly manner. Customers will be informed about the origin of the ingredients and the results of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted while operating the cafe.
Regular admission is ¥1800 for adults, ¥1200 for high school and university students, and ¥900 for children over four years old to junior high school. For an exhibition of this size, this is, to be fair, a rather bold price. But why not take the opportunity to explore Studio Olafur Eliasson’s world if you feel like it?
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