MUSEUM ATTENDANCE IS reportedly
declining in both the UK and the US, but the
cause is yet to be determined. Perhaps the
downtrend is following an organic curve –
at least in the UK, where numbers drastically
increased between 2008 and 2014. Was that
level of growth – from 39.7 million to 50.8
million visitors across 15 museums – simply
unsustainable?
The consequence is that fewer people
are seeing and interacting with works of art
in a traditional museum context. But with
news articles claiming theatre attendance is
higher than ever – and recent stage designs
by artists such as Olafur Eliasson and Wolf-
gang Tillmans taking the limelight – will we
witness the emergence of a valuable medium
for artists, one that showcases their oeuvres
in an all-encompassing manner?For Hippolyte et Aricie, an opera by Jean-
Philippe Rameau performed at Berlin’s
Staatsoper, Eliasson created sets, costumes
and the overall lighting design. The themes
explored in the show – natural phenomena
such as water, fog, light and reflection – are
themes the artist also explores in his other
work. The audience is therefore absorbed
in Eliasson’s world through a moving (in
more than one sense of the word) discov-
ery of time, space, illumination and attire.
‘Stage design is interesting, because unlike
an art exhibition – which exists primarily in
a physical space and is dependent upon the
viewer actively moving through the gallery
from one work to the next, in complete con-
trol over her experience – works for stage
unfold over time in front of the relatively
passive viewer,’ says Eliasson. ‘This was »HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE, BERLIN
Performed at Berlin’s Staatsoper, Jean-Philippe Rameau’s
Hippolyte et Aricie featured sets, costumes and light design by
Olafur Eliasson. Like Eliasson’s other work, natural phenomena –
the opera’s main themes – are reflected in the scenography.
olafureliasson.net
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