Vanishing Points: Olafur Eliasson and the Weight of the Ephemeral

Olafur Eliasson
Artwork: Ice Watch, 2014
Medium: Public installation

Olafur Eliasson, Ice Watch, 2014.

Installation view: Ice Watch, Bankside, outside Tate Modern, London, 2018.

Photo: Justin Sutcliffe.

In Ice Watch, Eliasson placed blocks of melting glacial ice in public space, making climate change tangible and temporal. The physical melting functioned as a sculptural performance, unfolding over time in real space.

This piece parallels my interest in how ephemeral materials and environmental cues can be used to communicate emotional and psychological conditions. Eliasson’s ice acts like a living metaphor—its decay felt, not just observed. I relate this to emotional fragility, burnout, and mental dissolution in overstimulating societies.

His work has inspired me to experiment with forms that disappear, dissolve, or decay—reminding me that material vulnerability can be a powerful emotional tool. Like Eliasson, I aim to prompt reflection not just through what is visible, but through what is vanishing.

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