The Golden State Warriors, Chase Center, and Olafur Eliasson’s Studio Olafur will unveil Seeing Spheres, Eliasson’s largest public art work in the United States, at Chase Center and Thrive City.
Seeing spheres is a public space that brings people and many others together, as Eliasson mentioned. We often view public spaces as empty, negative spaces in the city, seen from a car or crossed on the way to somewhere else. Observing spheres offers a chance to take a break and see yourself as a participant in society from the outside.
▼ Artwork Overview
The 2019 exhibition, Seeing Spheres, features five fifteen-and-a-half-foot-tall polished hydroformed steel spheres arranged in a circle around a central space. Each stainless steel sphere has a flat, circular mirrored face surrounded by a ring of LED lights that are oriented inward to reflect the mirrored faces of the surrounding spheres. They create a surprising environment of multilayered, reflected spaces in which the same people and settings appear repeatedly, appearing from various unexpected angles. Tunnel-like reflections appear in the mirrors, repeating endlessly and disappearing into the distance.
▼ Seeing Spheres Consists Of Five Polished Hydroformed Steel Spheres
▼ The Flat, Circular Mirrored Faces Produce A Surprising Environment Of Multilayered, Reflected Spaces
▼ Each Mirrored Face Is Framed By A Ring Of LED Lights
This striking new artwork, located on Chase Center’s 25,000 square foot triangular plaza in front of the East Entrance to the arena, establishes a prominent public setting in Thrive City for visitors to meet and interact.
▼ View To The Chase Center’s Plaza
Eliasson frequently uses mirrors to create a subtle and playful sense of spatial confusion that stimulates awareness of our bodies and perception. Seeing metal spheres allows viewers to see themselves as co-participants in the shared world that appears within the layers of virtual space created by the cluster of giant mirrors. The artwork heightens visitors’ awareness of themselves and their surroundings, exemplifying art’s potential to, in Eliasson’s words, train our capacities for perceiving and interpreting the world.
▼ Aerial View By Hight
