Experience the uncapturable with Olafur Eliasson's 'Pluriverse Assembly'
Olafur Eliasson, Denmark b.1967 / Pluriverse assembly 2021 / Projection screen, LED projectors, motors, electrical ballasts, control units, aluminium, brass, steel, stainless steel, plastics, lenses, optical components, glass, wood, dichroic filters, wire, fabric, paraffin oil, plants / 360 x 1000 x 383cm / © 2021 Olafur Eliasson / Courtesy: The artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Photograph: K Bennett © QAGOMA / View full image
Experience the uncapturable at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 12 July 2026, showcasing works from Olafur Eliasson's three-decade career, such as the evocative lightshow of shapes, colours and shadows in Pluriverse assembly 2021, created by the reflection and refraction of light. The ever-changing sequence develops and vanishes upon a large wall-size screen in a slow continuum that is at once two-dimensional and spatial.
Viewers who walk behind the screen can see how the projection is created with three hanging glass rings rotating within the beams of spotlights, and a free-standing box houses two rotating horizontal discs. The lower, larger disc supports a collection of glass lenses and objects, while the second holds a circular tray containing clippings from plants suspended in oil. A spotlight inside the box shines up through the rotating discs onto a circular mirror, which redirects the light onto the screen.
As each motor revolves at its own pace, the relationship between the various elements constantly changes, so the projection appears continually new. Chance alignments produce a primordial phantasmagoria of evolving shapes, shadows, spectral arcs and fields of yellow and purple that wax and wane and ooze across the surface of the screen.
Pluriverse assembly 2021
Olafur Eliasson, Denmark b.1967 / Pluriverse assembly 2021 / Projection screen, LED projectors, motors, electrical ballasts, control units, aluminium, brass, steel, stainless steel, plastics, lenses, optical components, glass, wood, dichroic filters, wire, fabric, paraffin oil, plants / 360 x 1000 x 383cm / © 2021 Olafur Eliasson / Courtesy: The artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Photograph: J Ruckli © QAGOMA / View full image
Olafur Eliasson, Denmark b.1967 / Pluriverse assembly 2021 / Projection screen, LED projectors, motors, electrical ballasts, control units, aluminium, brass, steel, stainless steel, plastics, lenses, optical components, glass, wood, dichroic filters, wire, fabric, paraffin oil, plants / 360 x 1000 x 383cm / © 2021 Olafur Eliasson / Courtesy: The artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Photograph: C Baxter © QAGOMA / View full image
Delve into the work of Olafur Eliasson — immersive installations that play with light, colour and perception.
‘Presence’ is accompanied by an expansive publication produced in collaboration with Olafur Eliasson and his studio, as well as a range of exhibition merchandise.
The exhibition is complemented by QAGOMA’s interactive mobile companion, which includes an exhibition guide with curatorial insights, images, and behind-the-scenes videos, and a sense trail that invites visitors to experience selected artworks through gentle sensory prompts. When you buy your ticket to 'Presence', you’ll immediately get access to enhance your visit, so bring your headphones.
Olafur Eliasson: Presence
6 December 2025 – 12 July 2026
Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)
Gallery 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery), Gallery 1.2 & Gallery 1.3 (Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery)
Brisbane, Australia
Get tickets to 'Olafur Eliasson: Presence’