Olafur Eliasson at the MCA

I finally made it to the MCA to catch the exhibition "Take Your Time" by Olafur Eliasson just a day before it closed. I've followed Eliasson since 2006, when I stumbled upon "Eye See You," a Christmas window display in the Louis Vuitton store on 5th ave. Using mirrors and colored lights, Eliasson played with the overlapping motifs of the eye, reflection, and the window. He spoke of the work as a "lamp shaped like the pupil of an eye looking out of the window, but which, at the same time, is a mirror. When you stand in front of the window, you see a reflection of yourself looking into this eye.”

Eliasson continues working with the gaze and the role of the viewer as activating an artistic space in the MCA's exhibition. While some of the objects in the exhibition felt isolated and would have benefitted from more context, two pieces in particular were especially successful on their own. In "360° room for all colours," the walls of a circular room exhibit fluxuating colors akin to the late Jeremy Blake's color explorations. I found the most effective way to view this work was by facing the wall, sitting just inches away from it, so that the color filled the entire field of vision, causing all sense of depth and periphery to wane as the viewer is transported into a timeless and meditative world of color (shamefully I can't help but wonder if this is what I'm supposed to feel, but don't, when I look at a Rothko).

Another standout was an early work entitled "Beauty," in which a light mist fills the center of a dark room. A spotlight shines on the water, creating a rainbow that moves and changes with the viewer's movement. Some kids in the exhibition walked into the mist. I followed suit and couldn't stop--I left the gallery drenched.

PS--check out the Olafur Eliasson gangsta rap.