I suspect that you and I could start a conversation about the purpose of art, and what is art for, and what is the importance of art … and I think we’d still be talking about it in a week’s time. There’s a lot of ground to cover there. We’d agree about some things and maybe not about others.

But perhaps we’d agree – on a broad level – with the definition of art in Wikipedia:

The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically, spiritually, or philosophically motivated art; to create a sense of beauty; to explore the nature of perception; for pleasure; or to generate strong emotions.

And yes, I know that simply that one definition could keep our conversation going for a long time but in the context of the kunstmuseum at Aarhus, Denmark, I’m going with ‘to explore the nature of perception’.

Whether the sculptor, Olafur Eliasson, was thinking along those lines when he created the rainbow ‘halo’ at the top of the city’s art museum I have no idea but he is well-known for large installations that use light, water and air and many of his works feature  the way we react with the various elements.

See the effect below.

This installation is atop the art museum and is publicly accessible as a walkway. The walls of the walkway are many-hued and feature all the colours of the spectrum. As you walk around, you see the city’s magnificent aerial views but at every step, the colour of your view changes minutely.

Yet completel the circuit and you’ll have experienced the view through all the colours of the rainbow.

Also, the people who are walking around the rainbow form part of it. They can see each other – you see people who are walking in other areas of the halo and everyone inside is visible from the platform at the centre of the circle.

People who are walking around the halo can even be seen from the ground – and from a long distance away due to the museum’s height – becoming part of the installation.

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WHERE IS THE ART MUSEUM?

ARoS Art Museum

Aros Allé 2,
8000 Aarhus,
Denmark

ARTICLE BY:
Jackie

Jackie

JJ is originally from the UK and has lived in South Florida since 1994. She is the founder and editor of JAQUO Magazine. You can connect with her using the social media icons below.
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