The Weather Project

A Dazzling Sun In A Gallery by Geoff Harrison

I would have loved to have witnessed this first hand.  Olafur Eliasson's The Weather Project installed in the 150 long turbine hall of Tate Modern in 2003.  

In his preparatory work, Eliasson encouraged active involvement of gallery staff in the project from the beginning.  He distributed a questionnaire asking staff about their everyday engagement with the weather.  Eliasson also engaged the representatives of various gallery departments, as well as the Tate director and the museum architect, in discussions that examined issues such as representation, experience, interpretation and display.  

 He was involved in press releases prior to the opening claiming research was being carried out in the Turbine Hall, which was described as a place apparently capable of forming meteorological conditions of its own. The Weather Project has been described as bringing out the full potential of Tate Modern and, by extension, of museums in general, as places of encounter and aggregation. Spontaneous meetings took place in the hall, celebrations, people embracing or reveling in the artificial light, or lying on the floor to gaze at their own reflections in the ceiling. The Weather Project has been credited with reaffirming the social role of the museum.   An edited essay by Marcella Beccaria, Chief Curator Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Italy.