"Be very sensitive to where you are, in what times and in what parts of the world, and how that constitutes the artistic practice," says Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson in this recent video from Louisiana Channel. In Advice to the Young, Eliasson deliberates on creative practice, urging young artists to take risks and produce meaningful work. "Just because you think about a work of art," says Eliasson, "it is not necessarily a work of art." Most recently, Eliasson has made headlines for his immersive exhibition Riverbed at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art which explores the intersection between nature and the built environment. Revered as one of the world's leading sculptural and installation artists, Eliasson is adamant that the practice of working with art remains to be "very fierce, very strong and very robust."
Eliasson is optimistic for the future of art, arguing that creatives should not be marginalized by a society that undervalues the products of artistic endeavour. "Artists should have confidence in the fact that making a drawing is changing the world," says Eliasson, standing in his studio amidst his geometric creations, adding that even after 20 years as an artist-architect-designer, it is still "an unbelievably rewarding thing to be an artist."
Olafur Eliasson Creates an Indoor Riverbed at Danish Museum
Video: Olafur Eliasson Discusses the Authorship of Reality in "Riverbed" Exhibition
