Olafur Eliasson’s "Yellow Fog" on the facade of the Verbund building
From 9 October 2008, Verbund has been presenting "Yellow Fog" - Olafur Eliasson's first intervention in a public space in Vienna - as a permanent work of art in the center of Vienna.
Olafur Eliasson is one of the most prominent artists around today. His impressive work Yellow Fog - first shown in New York in1998 - can now be seen exclusively and permanently in Vienna. The setting for the interventions is the Verbund building and the historic "Am Hof" plaza, which are transformed into a public stage for an orchestration of light and fog.
A grid is embedded along the facade of the Verbund headquarters, under which 32 fluorescent tubes are installed. The tubes emit an expansive, homogenous light. Once dusk falls, for about 40 seconds, fog rises up the facade in yellow light. In roughly three-minute intervals, the process is repeated and the building is enveloped in a floating veil.
The fog serves as a fleeting projection screen for the light. At the same time, it not only obscures the view of the space, but can also create a more precise experience of distance and spatial relations. The fog moves excitingly as it expands in the space towards the pavement and onto the plaza. In discussion with the collection’s director, Gabriele Schor, the artist explained: "Yellow Fog connects the inside with the outside. That which is in the building, namely the artworks of Sammlung Verbund in the Vertical Gallery, is communicated outward into public space."
