The blind pavilion

Two concentric steel framework structures, glazed with angular panes of clear glass and black glass, form The blind pavilion. When visitors stand at the centre of the work, the black glass panels line up so that the view out of the pavilion into the world beyond is obstructed, and one could say that the pavilion ‘goes blind’. The structure was originally exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2003, when Eliasson represented Denmark. It was installed on the roof of the Danish pavilion as part of a sequence of works that mixed the views of the exterior environment with the interior exhibition space to test the boundaries between inside and outside. Before finding its permanent home at the Red Brick Art Museum, The blind pavilion was also exhibited on Videy Island, Iceland, and on Peacock Island, Berlin.