yellow fog permanent art installation by olafur eliasson

renowned danish artist olafur eliasson uses fog as a tool to allow the viewer a new perception of urban space. daily at dusk, for 40 seconds, 32 fluorescent tubes emit a specific yellow light, (attuned by the artist himself) and illuminate the verbund building in the city center of vienna, austria. fog rises up the façade at regular intervals, from the street level to the roof. after 3 minutes the procedure starts again. the fog serves as a fleeting projection screen. it not only obscures the view of space, but also creates a more precise experience of distance and spatial relations. the transition period between day and night, yellow fog rises on the façade of the headquarters of austria’s leading electricity company verbund.

intervention in public space – am hof 6a, 1010 vienna.(above) image © petra spiola(main) image © rupert steiner

the yellow fog shrouds the building in an ephemeral veil for one hour. the permanent installation was curated by gabriele schor, director of the sammlung verbund. 

32 fluorescent tubes are embedded in the pavement along the 48 meter facade. image © hans klaus techt 

olafur eliasson at the opening event on october 9th, 2008. the yellow fog installation was shown for the first time in 1998 in new york. image © petra spiola