Olafur Eliasson is set to install a massive new public art project along England’s West Cumbria coastline. Tentatively entitled Your Daylight Destination, the work is in collaboration with novelist Robert Macfarlane and will be a part of a larger art program called Deep Time: Commissions for the Lake District Coast.
As his first permanent outdoor project in the UK, the Danish-Icelandic artist will create a large steel basin that will fill with seawater several times a day on Silecroft beach. Visitors will be able to view the 98-foot-long structure all the way to the beach’s mudflats, as well as on a viewing platform. When the tide is high, the steel pool will not be visible, but once the water recedes, onlookers will be able to witness picturesque reflections of the clouds and sky.
Inspired by prehistoric rock art found in the Cumbria area, the work is a “humble reflection of what is already there—the beach, the water, the sky, the plants and animals—reframed within a space that invites self-discovery in a deep-time perspective,” said Eliasson in a statement.
Deep Time will also contain a series of smaller installations commissioned by artists Marcus Coates, Susan Philipsz, Martin Boyce, Atelier Van Lieshout, Yelena Popova and Ryan Gander. Copeland mayor Mike Starkie hopes the proposed work drives tourism to the area, where they can experience the delights of this “secret” corner of England in a new way. “The hope is that local businesses will see a boost from this attraction, and all the other investment we’ve delivered as part of the Connecting Cumbria’s Hidden Coast project,” added Starkie. The project is scheduled to launch later this summer.
Elsewhere, get to know the artists behind our Global Citizens – Asia exhibition with THE SHOPHOUSE.
