A young person stands before a sheer drift of mist, reaching towards the falling spray as blue, gold, violet and red hover around its droplets, creating vertical washes of colour in the surrounding darkness.

Beauty 1993

Beauty 1993 brings a rainbow close enough for us to touch, together with a fine mist falling gently on our skin and the smell of water. Normally mythical or distant in the landscape, these sensory phenomena are no longer separate from us; here they gently unfurl as we move into the gallery.

Olafur Eliasson first made Beauty very simply as an art student in a Copenhagen garage, using a light and punctured hose. This installation demonstrates his long interest in perception and the importance of our experience as visitors. He believes this is central to the ‘life’ of art. We each have a role in bringing Beauty into being: for Eliasson, we are vital ‘co-producers’ of the artwork.

Walk towards the light and mist, slowly extending your senses. Feel the water. For each of us the experience will be unique. Why? Our height, the angle of the light and drift of the mist all affect what we see. We will each experience Beauty differently, even when we do so together.

– Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow

Low/no vision audio description

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This immersive installation is presented in a darkened room. A line of fine nozzles hanging from the ceiling stretches horizontally across the space, releasing a continuous, delicate mist of tiny water droplets. The mist falls in a thin vertical sheet, forming a soft veil that extends from above head height down to the floor.

A bright spotlight is angled towards the mist, illuminating the falling water. The delicate shower of water shimmers like a curtain, alive with subtle shifts of colour. From some positions, the light and mist intersect to create a vivid rainbow. As audiences move around the space, they see the ‘spray bow’ brighten, fade or vanish altogether. The spectrum of colours hovers in the mist; never fixed, always changing in response to fluctuations of light and visitors’ movements.

A faint hiss can be heard as water is released from the nozzles, as well as the gentle patter of fine droplets landing on the ground. The gallery floor has holes that allow the water to drain away. The air feels cool and slightly damp, carrying the sensation of moisture, and visitors who reach out can also feel the fine spray of water on their skin.

Within the surrounding darkness, elements that produce the rainbow can be seen: the spotlight, spray heads and the water supply line. The work brings together light, water and movement, creating an encounter that is precise in construction yet fleeting in appearance.

– QAGOMA

The silhouettes of an adult and child stand before a curtain of mist, partially illuminated by light, forming a glowing multicoloured arc across the water spray in an otherwise darkened space.

A person stands on a dark floor holding a child, both facing a fine, falling veil of mist alight with soft blue, amber and violet tones.

A child stands on a dark floor with arms outstretched, looking up towards a vertical sheet of fine mist illuminated with soft blue, amber and violet tones beneath a small overhead light.

Experience this work on the Sense Trail