Art on the lagoon: Eliasson at the Biennale of Venice

The Biennales of Venice are not limited to exhibitions in national pavilions. Every year artists and architects choose to confront the site and more specifically, the lagoon. In the edition of 2005, the artist O. Eliasson proposed an installation (Your black horizon, 2005) where the visitors left the wide expanse and intense light of the lagoon to enter a darkened enclosed space with subtle light effects. These aesthetic experiences enhanced the visitors’ perception of light by changing the usual spatiality and temporality of colour. We will analyze the role of memory in the rite of the visit, and look at how the museal strategies of the artist create a play with spatial memory and sense of orientation in relation to the outdoor space of the lagoon.