Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has created a new installation specifically for the Artis Aquarium. Titled Deep Seeing Currents, the work opens to visitors on 3 October in the building’s monumental rotunda.
Rather than a traditional display viewed from a distance, the installation is designed as a physical experience. The rotunda will be transformed using darkness, sound, light, and vibrations to evoke the deep ocean.
Sensory effects in the dark
Visitors walking into the installation will hear recordings of whale song, hydrothermal vents, and underwater human activity. Physical vibrations will suggest the heavy pressure found at extreme depths.
Flashes of light will move overhead and around the space to imitate marine snow, the steady drift of organic particles falling from surface waters to nourish deep-sea life.
Eliasson frequently uses elements such as light, water, mist, and mirrors to alter how people perceive their surroundings. By limiting vision in the dark rotunda, the artwork relies on other senses to suggest a world rarely visited by humans.
Art inside the renovated building
The 1882 aquarium building, a national monument, reopened in June following an extensive multi-year restoration. The updated venue aims to combine science, architecture, and art rather than only displaying fish behind glass.
Artis intends the deep-sea focus to highlight the ocean’s role in global climate and oxygen cycles. Eliasson’s piece will place visitors directly in the centre of the historic hall until further notice.
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