"I gasp as it comes into view: an enormous sun looming above, its surface roiling with what looks like thousands of tiny atomic explosions. It seems to notice me as well: when I stop, it stops too. It's both awe-inspiring and unnerving. In the mirrors around the glowing orb, I spot Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson globally renowned for large-scale installations that challenge your sense of perception posing for selfies with the crowd."
"It's the opening night of Presence, a major exhibition spanning Eliasson's 30-year practice that occupies the entire ground floor of the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) in Meanjin/Brisbane. His 2014 work Riverbed a room filled with 100 tonnes of sand, river pebbles and rock makes its return, alongside immersive works that play with light, colour and movement, and photographs spotlighting the climate crisis."
"a kind of public lounge room, where strangers found what Eliasson calls we-ness: a sense of shared humanity, which seems to be forming here, too. I'd first heard about this sun a few days earlier, when I sat down with Eliasson and the exhibition's curator Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow. When you move, it moves. So the sun is asking you to notice that your presence makes a difference, Eliasson told me. It holds up in front of you the fact that your actions have consequences."
Presence occupies the entire ground floor of the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) in Meanjin/Brisbane and spans a 30-year practice. A massive sun installation responds to visitor movement, creating an interactive field that links presence with consequence. Riverbed (2014) returns as a room of 100 tonnes of sand, pebbles and rock alongside immersive works that manipulate light, colour and motion. Photographs address the climate crisis. Works using light polarisation, such as Your Negotiable Vulnerability Seen From Two Perspectives (2025), shift appearance with the viewer's position. The exhibition frames audience members as active co-producers and emphasizes differing vantage points and shared humanity.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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