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Take me to your art dealer
By Louise Jury, Evening Standard 22.08.07
Out of this world: The unusual pavilion in Hyde Park was created by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Kjetil Thorsen
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To some it may look like a UFO has landed in Hyde Park. Others may see a giant spinning top with teeth.
In fact it is this year's Serpentine Gallery pavilion, by the same artist who brought the giant sun to Tate Modern.
The structure was created by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, working with one of Scandinavia's leading architects, Kjetil Thorsen.
Made of steel with timber cladding, it has a 150-metre ramp curving up to the roof where visitors can take in views of the park. Each year the Serpentine pavilion-gives internationally renowned designers who have not yet built anything in Britain the chance to show off their skills.
This year's structure was due to open last month but technical difficulties caused delays. It will now be open to the public from Friday to 11 November - to coincide with October's Frieze Art Fair.
A programme of talks, with artists, academics, scientists and architects, including some featuring Eliasson, will take place inside.
The artist, whose Weather Project, with its huge yellow sun, dominated the Tate Modern turbine hall in 2003, said he was "very excited" to see his vision realised.
"It's a complex structure but it's exactly as I wanted it to be," he said.
"We were lucky to be able to make it without having to compromise. Knowing the building and architecture world, that is a rarity these days. The momentum, or collective spirit - not just from the designers but from the [manufacturing] companies and the Serpentine and everybody - got increasingly strong through the process. A lot of people threw in a lot of extra effort."
Eliasson and Thorsen, a Norwegian praised for his work on the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt, advise art lovers not to rush their visit.
"This is a pavilion you need to feel with your body and less with your eyes. You need to take a little bit of time," said Eliasson. He hoped it would be a serious space for the exploration of artistic ideas and suggested London needed that. "I feel very welcome and at home in London," he said.
"The city has, I think, in its complexity, a lot to offer but it also has a few things from which it suffers, [such as] the incredible power that money has.
"London has maybe a tendency to favour decadence and fashion and surface. If it doesn't look flashy, people are less likely to get involved."
Thorsen said the pavilion was a fusion of art and architecture and it had been "fantastic" working with Eliasson.
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