Unusual Triptych

Three unusual art installations at Harvard by Ai Weiwei, Olafur Eliasson, and Tomás Saraceno

<i>Untitled</i> by Ai Weiwei
<i>Untitled</i> by Ai Weiwei
<i>Three to now</i> by Olafur Eliasson
<i>Three to now</i> by Olafur Eliasson
<i>Three to now</i> by Olafur Eliasson
<i>Cloud City</i> by Tomás Saraceno
<i>Cloud City</i> by Tomás Saraceno
<i>Cloud City</i> by Tomás Saraceno

Three art installations now on view at Harvard under the collective title "The Divine Comedy" are attracting attention, including an article in the Boston Globe by architecture critic Robert Campbell ’58, M.Arch. ’67, and this admiring description in New Scientist. In a quadrangle on Oxford Street at the Northwest Science Building stands Untitled, by dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, a global figure in the art world who was arrested on April 3 and whose whereabouts are currently unknown.  It comprises nine large piles of children's backpacks—5,335 in all—each pack representing a child killed in a 2008 earthquake in China. There is also an audio track reciting the name of each child.  Three to now, by Berlin-based Danish/Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson,  on the ground floor gallery of Gund Hall, includes 54 objects that invite the visitor to interact with them and play on our visual and spatial perceptions, like a convex mirror that inverts images. Cloud City, a large transparent balloon with solar panels (that power four tiny LED lights) inside, by Argentina native Tomás Saraceno, is on a roof terrace at the Carpenter Center. The Graham Gund Exhibition Fund underwrote the exhibition, which was mounted by the Graduate School of Design and the Harvard Art Museums. It runs until May 17. 

Related topics

You might also like

Salsa Squared

Latin dancing fills the streets in Harvard Square   

No More [Lovin’ That] Dirty Water

Enjoying Boston Harbor’s Renaissance this summer

Reconstructing the Berlin Wall

David Leo Rice explores the strange, unseen forces shaping our world.

Most popular

The Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Harvard Layoffs Continue, with More to Come

In the wake of federal government actions, several Harvard schools and institutes are cutting costs.

The Downsides of Prozac

Harvard researchers discuss the side effects of Prozac and other SSRIs

Explore More From Current Issue

Matt Levine in a dark blazer and glasses stands smiling with arms crossed in front of a large window in a city building.

Matt Levine’s spunky Bloomberg column

Grid of headshots showing newly elected Harvard Overseers and Directors, with names and titles listed below each photo.

Alumni showed increased interest in this year’s elections.

David Souter

Remembering David Souter ’61, LL.B. ’66