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Olafur Eliasson Installs Massive, Man-Made Waterfall at Versailles

06.24.16 | By
Olafur Eliasson Installs Massive, Man-Made Waterfall at Versailles

Part of artist Olafur Eliasson’s latest exhibition, Waterfall is a massive, life-size replica of an actual waterfall that almost doesn’t seem real. The plumes of water appear from mid-air before pouring down into the Grand Canal at the Palace of Versailles. From the front, it looks as if the water arises from nowhere and it’s not until you move around to the side that you see the metal structure erected to pump the water up to the top.

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From Eliasson:

The Versailles that I have been dreaming up is a place that empowers everyone. It invites visitors to take control of the authorship of their experience instead of simply consuming and being dazzled by the grandeur. It asks them to exercise their senses, to embrace the unexpected, to drift through the gardens, and to feel the landscape take shape through their movement.

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The entire exhibition is on display until October 30th, 2016, in Versailles, France.

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Photos by Anders Sune Berg, courtesy of Olafur Eliasson.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.