A grid of nine framed photographs, arranged in a grid of three rows by three columns, showing sequential photographs of a green mountain as a cloud forms and passes across its slopes.

The morning small cloud series 2006

As we look from one image to another in this series of nine photographs, we see a cloud forming: from nothing, a wisp of white appears, then becomes a beautiful, curved arc of cloud. The photographs draw our attention to an ethereal, swiftly passing phenomena which we otherwise might not notice. The passage of time and the life of our atmosphere is visible in the landscape.

Olafur Eliasson had seen this particular cloud form before, which led him to take these photographs. He says, ‘Often when passing a small bridge, I saw a small cloud sitting there, blown by the wind between valleys.’ He initially planned to photograph the tyre tracks in moss to the left of the image but changed his mind as the process unfolded:

‘I first saw the tracks when I was a child. It’s now several decades since, they are almost gone, so I decided to document them. As I was setting up my camera, I saw the very faint beginning of this cloud forming. Then I shifted the camera and started documenting the cloud instead of the tracks. But the tracks can still be seen in the photos. I have referred to them when talking about the Arctic in the age of the climate crisis. The tracks say something about the impact of human traces and how slowly … The duration between the first and last photograph in the series is about one hour, maybe only half an hour.’

— Olafur Eliasson

– Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow

Low/no vision audio description

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This work consists of nine colour photographs displayed in a grid of three rows by three columns. Each image is set within a thin black frame. Together, the arrangement spans about 1.3 metres high and just under 2 metres wide, covering a square section of the gallery wall. The photographs are evenly spaced, their alignment creating a steady rhythm that encourages viewers to follow the sequence across rows while also pausing on each image individually.

Each photograph shows the same view of a treeless Icelandic hill, its broad slopes muted in earthy browns and greens beneath a pale sky.

Across the sequence, a subtle transformation unfolds. In the first image, the crest of the hill is clear. In each subsequent photograph, a small, wispy cloud begins to enter the frame. As the seriescontinues, the cloud grows and shifts, eventually stretching across the ridge. By the final row, the cloud extends along much of the horizon, softening the outline of the hill against the sky.

The uniform framing and consistent perspective of the photographs make this delicate formation of the cloud perceptible. Seen together, the nine images capture the quiet passage of time, showing how the arrival of a single cloud can transform the atmosphere of an entire landscape.

– QAGOMA

A grassy volcanic hillside in muted green tones beneath a pale grey sky. The foreground shows soft ridges and gullies leading up to a central mountain peak.

A thin misty cloud drifts across a green mountain landscape, with dark fissures and gentle slopes across the surrounding volcanic terrain.

A horizontal strip of misty cloud stretches across a mossy mountain beneath a white sky.

A wide landscape with a misty band of cloud suspended mid-slope above a green mountain, under the diffuse light of a white sky.

Room: ‘Iceland’

Olafur Eliasson returns regularly to Iceland. Although now based in Berlin, he was born in Copenhagen to Icelandic parents. As a child, he would spend summers with his grandparents near Reykjavík. Moving between these different landscapes has shaped his artistic practice in profound ways. Experiencing such distinct ways of life, qualities of place and phenomena of light, was critical in shaping his focus on how we perceive and understand the world. Moving from place to place, this effect is heightened: ‘When I looked at a shadow or at melting ice, I wanted to document something I could see, but others might not register,’ he says. ‘For my Icelandic family and friends there was no need to tell a story they already knew.’

Eliasson pays close attention to his surroundings. In his photographs, we see an alertness to different qualities of light and landscape, time and its rhythms. We also see a focus on how people orient themselves and adapt to the country’s harsh climate. The Hekla twilight series 2006 captures subtle changes of light and colour as dusk falls over the snow-covered mountain. We explore a landscape of rivers shaped by glacial meltwater, snow-capped plateaus and tumbling waterfalls through Eliasson’s eyes and camera lens. A rainbow appears cradled by the landscape itself at the base of a waterfall, then is painstakingly recreated in thin veils of watercolour. From a small piece of Icelandic lava rock, Eliasson constructs a model planet, lit by a hidden sun.

– Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow

The morning small cloud series 2006

Room: ‘Iceland’

Other works from ‘Iceland’:

Room: ‘Iceland’

Other works from ‘Iceland’: