<p><strong>Olafur Eliasson</strong><br />
<em>The cubic structural evolution project&nbsp;(installation view)</em> 2010<br />
Purchased 2005. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant<br />
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery</p>

Olafur Eliasson
The cubic structural evolution project (installation view) 2010
Purchased 2005. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery

11 August 2014

Aspiring architects, budding town planners, the young and young at heart are set to let loose with thousands of white LEGO bricks as The cubic structural evolution project comes to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki from Monday 1 September 2014.

Driven by the power of imagination, The cubic structural evolution project by artist Olafur Eliasson invites audiences to construct fantastical structures from an abundance of white LEGO bricks. Comprising a 12-metre-long table piled high with the much-loved construction toy, the work encourages audiences to work side by side to build and rebuild structures in an endlessly evolving cityscape of creative collaboration.

Born in Denmark, artist Olafur Eliasson shares a birthplace with the extraordinarily popular LEGO, which is named from the Danish 'leg godt' meaning 'play well'.

Rhana Devenport, Director, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, invites audiences to participate in the project, which is offered with free entry at the Gallery until Sunday 1 March 2015:

'The cubic structural evolution project has been phenomenally popular everywhere it's been presented to date, and now Aucklanders have the chance to enjoy this celebration of creative play. Families, in particular, will love the challenge and the freedom. Search out your own inner child and recreate the magical absorption of childhood - this project is all about participation and it doesn't exist without you.'

While The cubic structural evolution project is ultimately playful in nature and in the artist's choice of materials, it subtly recreates the cheek-by-jowl tensions of city living. Rhana Devenport notes:

'These are the difficulties that play out in urban planning the world over and that are inherent to the lifecycle of any metropolis. In cities like Auckland, we grapple with the choice between building up or out and between the wrecking ball and the protection order. The cubic structural evolution project comments on community decision-making and urbanism, and explores the relationship between maker, spectator and object. The project is as relevant to town planners, civil engineers and architects, as it is to families.'

'It's these associations that make it appropriate that The cubic structural evolution project opens at the Gallery in the same month as Auckland Architecture Week 2014, and does so thanks to the support of GIB, New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) and Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ).'

Fans of The cubic structural evolution project will be able to see more of artist Olafur Eliasson's work when the much-anticipated Light Show opens at Auckland Art Gallery on Saturday 11 October 2014.

Says Zara Stanhope, Principal Curator, Head of Programmes:

'This highly immersive exhibition of light installations includes Olafur Eliasson'sModel For A Timeless Garden. Set to be a hero of the show, the work's strobe-lit fountains reveal in freeze frame those moments normally beyond our perception. If you delighted in writing with sparklers as a child, this work - and Light Show as a whole - offers the same sense of wonder. Eliasson's works, whether involving LEGO or light, are playful encounters that appeal to all ages.'

The cubic structural evolution project runs from 1 September 2014 until 1 March 2015. Entry is free.

The cubic structural evolution project, 2004, is on loan from Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

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Exhibition partners:

GIB logo

 

DINZ

 

NZIA