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2019 - The Unspeakable Openness of Things

Project Type

Photo Essay

Date

November, 2019

Location

Beijing, China

Artist

Olafur Eliasson

It has been years since I experienced autumn in Beijing.

Since moving to Shanghai for university a decade ago, Beijing’s autumns lived only in memory. In 2019, I returned briefly before leaving for London, not knowing it would be four more years before I’d see those familiar landscapes again.

On the day before I left, with my bags packed, I spent my final hours at the nearby Red Brick Art Museum. The museum was a tableau of golden autumn light, leaves scattered yet not forlorn, and the bare branches stood lively and distinct. The skies, usually hidden by foliage, stretched clean and infinite above.

Inside, one gallery seemed to hold autumn itself. A mirrored ceiling completed a golden arc—a glowing ring floating quietly in this field of colour. Created by Olafur Eliasson for his solo exhibition the previous year, this work had become a permanent fixture.

The ring, soft with golden light, felt like a silent observer of time. As I moved, the shape shifted from circle to ellipse to line, then back again. People mingled in and out of the ring’s boundary, taking photos, exploring the illusions, while I, alone, simply observed. This piece, *The Unspeakable Openness of Things*, seemed aptly named, capturing an openness that language could never quite reach.

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