Olafur Eliasson und Frederik Ottesen
Little Sun, 2012
Installation | Volume produced lamp, recyclable plastic, solar-panel, LED lamp, Television, Video
Art responds to the times in which it is produced, to the values and world views cultivated by society. »Little Suns« responds to the situation we face today, where natural resources no longer abound. Energy shortage and unequal energy distribution make it necessary to reconsider how our life-sustaining systems function. Olafur Eliasson sees »Little Sun« as a wedge for opening up this urgent discussion from the perspective of art.
»Little Suns« makes light for living – for cooking, eating, for reading, writing, for looking, for looking at. It sets the frame for studying, for social encounters, aesthetic experiences, work, and commerce.
Four hours of natural light is converted into five hours of »Little Sun« light.
One part of the artwork is the Little Sun light itself and the activities it enables; the other is its successful integration into off-grid communities – its journey from production to use.
The distribution of »Little Suns« relies on local entrepreneurs, which helps create sustainable trade routes and a robust local microeconomic infrastructure.
Biography
Olafur Eliasson (*1967 Copenhagen, Denmark) lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Copenhagen.