The Parliament of Reality is a new, permanent outdoor installation by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. Conceived specifically for the Bard campus with the life of the College in mind, The Parliament of Reality draws attention to our surroundings, both man-made and natural, while challenging the way we perceive and act in the world. The project is inspired by the Althing, or Icelandic Parliament, the oldest national democratic institution in the world. Founded around 930 AD and held outdoors on the plains of Thingvellir until 1798, the Althing’s center was the Lögberg, or “Law Rock,” a stone outcrop from which the lögsögumaður, or “Lawspeaker,” could address the crowd and direct events. 

 

Opening in Spring 2009, Eliasson’s The Parliament of Reality consists of a circular pond approximately 135 feet in diameter surrounded by a ring of 24 planted trees. Nestled in the center of the pond is a circular island, paved with individual stones that inscribe a twelve-point pattern derived from the meridian lines of nautical charts and the compass. The island is accessed via a stone bridge covered by a stainless steel latticework tunnel. Based on the pattern of the island’s floor, the tunnel is composed of a series of ellipses, which gradually intensify toward the point where the bridge and island meet. As visitors cross the bridge, the tunnel’s design appears to gradually shift, providing a temporal experience based on their physcial and perceptual engagement.

 

Eliasson envisions this project as “a place where students, teachers, and visitors can gather to relax, discuss ideas, or have an argument. The Parliament of Reality emphasizes that negotiation should be at the core of any educational scheme. It is only by questioning what one is taught that real knowledge is produced and a critical attitude can be sustained.” 

Olafur Eliasson's The Parliament of Reality is a collaboration between CCS Bard and the LUMA Foundation.

INAUGURATION: FRIDAY MAY 15 and SATURDAY MAY 16

Two days of inaugural events have been developed in keeping with the idea of the project as a space for debate and gathering and Bard College’s emphasis on providing opportunities for interdisciplinary studies. On Friday, May 15, a conference dedicated to issues surrounding the use of music as torture will be led by The Human Rights Project (HRP) at Bard. View schedule

On Saturday, May 16, Olafur Eliasson will lead an international group of scholars and artists in a series of presentations and performances devoted to our use of space, architecture, art, and design. View schedule

Following the symposia and presentations on the island, Leon Botstein, President of Bard College, will formally inaugurate The parliament of reality at 5:30 p.m. The artist; Maja Hoffmann, founder, LUMA Foundation; and Tom Eccles, executive director of the Center for Curatorial Studies will take part in the inauguration.

All events are free and open to the public. Additional funding for the inaugural events has been provided by the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Osher Foundation.

Olafur Eliasson

Born in Denmark in 1967 to Icelandic parents, Olafur Eliasson presently divides his time between his family’s home in Copenhagen and his studio complex in Berlin. He attended Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Arts from 1989 through 1995. He has participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide and his work is represented in public and private collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Deste Foundation, Athens; and Tate Modern, London. In 2003, Eliasson became internationally known for The Weather Project, a gigantic artificial sun and mirrored ceiling installed inside the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. His recent exhibitions include solo shows at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Malmö Konsthall, Sweden; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Kunsthaus Zug, Switzerland, and his first U.S. retrospective, Take your time: Olafur Eliasson, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; MoMA and PS1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. The exhibition is also traveling to Dallas, Texas, and Sydney, Australia. Olafur Eliasson’s most recent outdoor project, New York City Waterfalls, is currently on view in locations surrounding lower Manhattan in New York City.

Click on the images below to view images of The Parliament of Reality. All images © Studio Olafur Eliasson.