![\"Metal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/olafur-x-monocle-_dsf7509.jpg\")
An icy trail of archways leads to the sculpture at an elevation of 3km<\/p>\nOlafur Eliasson\u2019s Alpine installation forces viewers out of their comfort zones, offering an immersive perspective on our relationship with the planet and its place among the stars. It\u2019s time to find new inspiration.<\/p>\n
Perched on the tip of the Hochjochferner glacier, facing a horizon of snowy Alpine peaks at Italy\u2019s border with Austria, the newest work by Olafur Eliasson is a long way from the accessibility (and indoor heating) of a museum. Visitors are encouraged to come to this high-altitude corner of South Tyrol not only to witness the impressive, science-fiction-like globe but to observe the icy mountain landscape beyond. Danish-Icelandic artist Eliasson has long been focusing on climate change in his work and this latest sculpture is an important addition to that theme.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it inspiring to create a more contemplative relationship with nature and the mountains,\u201d says Eliasson, wrapped up in plenty of warm layers as he gazes at the white peaks. The artwork, titled \u201cOur Glacial Perspectives\u201d, sits like a fragile planet adrift in snow. It\u2019s reminiscent of an ancient astronomical tool used to measure the paths of heavenly bodies.<\/p>\n
An icy trail of archways leads to the sculpture at an elevation of 3km<\/p>\n
The far-flung work was commissioned by Talking Water Society, a water-preservation organisation. One of its founders, Bolzano-based Austrian Ui Phoenix von Kerbl, convinced South Tyrolean officials to turn this frigid patch of land into a space for a permanent and public, if remote, work of art. Crafted in galvanised steel by Pichler, a Bolzano-based manufacturer of cable cars and steel fa\u00e7ades, the sculpture\u2019s structure \u2013 10 tonnes of metal and glass anchored to the rock \u2013 means that visitors can step inside to study the firmament through the globe\u2019s apertures.<\/p>\n
The rings trace the sun\u2019s path through to the year\u2019s equinoxes and solstices, and each glass pane measures 15 arc minutes of the sun\u2019s movement. \u201cIf you understand the cyclical nature of the celestial, you take away the mechanification of our relationship to the world and start to physically relate to it,\u201d says Eliasson.<\/p>\n
![\"Olafur](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/olafur-x-monocle-_dsf7459.jpg\")
\u2018Our Glacial Perspectives\u2019 surveys the peak<\/p>\n
![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/olafur-x-monocle-_dsf7205.jpg\")
The artwork comprises shades of blue glass<\/p>\n
![\"Olafur](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/olafur-x-monocle-_piv6030.jpg\")
Olafur Eliasson inside his creation<\/p>\n
Inspired by jmw Turner\u2019s 19th-century paintings of an environment \u201cthat was not standing still\u201d, Eliasson has long depicted the ephemeral: moving water, sunlight, melting glaciers. Over the past century, temperatures in the Alps have risen by 1.5c and permafrost now clings only to the tip of these peaks. To represent climate change, \u201csomething so abstract that it\u2019s outside our imagination,\u201d Eliasson prefers to let an encounter with the threatened glaciers speak for itself.<\/p>\n
Getting to the work is no mean feat: visitors ride a cable car to the mountaintop Grawand lodge and then traverse a narrow 410-metre path along a frozen crest marked by nine metal archways that symbolise Earth\u2019s ice ages. At an elevation of 3km, the sculpture floats above a vertiginous drop to the valley below. The artwork is a tool to understand the landscape, not a mere installation: the visitors\u2019 experience of the freezing-cold trip, their high-altitude isolation and their ascent are all part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an instrument,\u201d says Eliasson. \u201cIt gets you into the mountains and gives you the opportunity to think about something abstract.\u201d His eyes pivot upwards. \u201cLike, for instance, how blue is the sky?\u201d Monocle comment: After a lot of time spent cooped up, inspiration should be sought further afield. Do so and you will find places and works that will truly shift your perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Olafur Eliasson\u2019s Alpine installation forces viewers out of their comfort zones, offering an immersive perspective on our relationship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[16],"tags":[50,799,50221,20385,24543],"class_list":["post-101516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alps","tag-alps","tag-climate-change","tag-olafur-eliasson","tag-sculpture","tag-south-tyrol"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116899385808700459","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
olafureliasson.net<\/a><\/p>\n