All the pretty lights

Sparkle, sparkle

Blinded by the Olufur Eliasson “Take Your Time” exhibition at the MCA last Thursday; not sure if my head was spinning from the artistic flair or scare of the installations.

I’m one not too into contemporary art. I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t get it or there is nothing to get. Case in point: staring at a powerpoint trying to appreciate its creative quality to actually realise it was, indeed, just a powerpoint. It was deceptively similar to another plug-looking piece of art entitled “Cracked Corn”.

Contemporary art usually makes me want to reach out and touch it, which is not allowed at all by these narky museum guides. Note to self: if you’re not yelled at after five minutes of touching an installation, chances are it is of the structural kind, and not its artistic counterpart: part of the building, not part of the exhibition. They don’t care if you caress a skirting board, they’ll snicker but they won’t care.

But contemporary art museums are a big playground of weirdness crying out to my inner child to run around the stark white rooms and scream, for sheer fun or from sheer lunacy I cannot tell you right now.

Interior inspiration

I really enjoyed the Eliasson exhibition. Mainly because there was one room where you could touch the art, albeit your own art. But how could one not love a white Lego room to build your own wacky structures? That’s right, no-one. Unless they had a unbeating heart made out of Lego.

There were definitely stand outs in the exhibition, and ones I wanted to touch and ones I wanted to have in my own home.

• Walking through a mirrored kaleidoscope tunnel to my front door is an investment I would make over white goods.
• The room full of scaled miniatures of Eliasson’s copper garden installations was fantastic as were the colour wheels that adorned the walls, a startling contrast of hues.
• The moss grotto wall, though I am unsure if the dank smell was part of the artistic direction.
• The stainless steel snowflake-like chasm, much like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, much like what I would like to retire to as my boudoir.
• A periscope-like window box which I would like to adorn my Fortress of Solitude but as my friend pointed out, the actual window of the MCA was nicer.
• The water/light room was quite peaceful and a nice change from the Room of Deathly Light (see below).

Don’t go towards the light!

A lot of the exhibition featured lights, which I didn’t like at all. A room of yellow retina-burning fluorescent light beams worse than the 3 am last call lights at a pub on a Thursday night. Apparently my face was blue-black and my friend’s was green. Actually, we could have passed for coming out of a pub brawl at 3am on a Thursday night. The thought of the yellow lights clashing with my yellow dress was the least of my problems in the attractiveness stakes. 

Only one of the light rooms I liked, and I’m not sure if it was because it was filled with spotlights and I felt well within my element.

Take your time

I am unsure if the exhibition title of “Take Your Time” suggests you need time to recover from the assault of light or to enjoy slowly going blind. By way of interest, we spent more time in the gift shop than the actual exhibition.

I would recommend seeing Eliasson’s exhibition; it features a good variety of art, something for everyone to take away or be confused over. If you’re wondering about the meaning behind the rectangle of changing lights on a stark, white wall, you can at least appreciate the pure mechanics and talent to construct the giant kaleidoscope that you could never, ever confuse for a power plug.