I N T R O D U C T I O N
Olafur Eliasson and Tania Singer in
Conversation
Moderated by Matthias Bolz
Matthias Bolz: You come from different fields of work. Tania, you are a neuroscientist
interested in social emotions such as empathy,
schadenfreude
, and compassion; Olafur,
you are a visual artist. Now, Olafur, you hosted the workshop
organized by Tania, at your studio in July 2011. When and how did you meet and how did
this cooperation come about?
Tania Singer:
We first met at the Falling Wall's Conference in November 2010 where we were
both speakers. The evening before the conference you hosted a reception in your studio, where
we spoke about empathy and emotional resonance. You told me of your great interest in the
concepts of “felt feelings” and emotional resonance. I think our next encounter was when you
called me in January of the following year to talk about my research on compassion, emotional
contagion, and empathy. If I remember correctly, at that time, you were thinking of working on a
bigger project related to collective felt feelings.
Olafur Eliasson:
That’s right. Sharing a feeling or an experience is something I have addressed
a number of times. How does standing next to another person while looking at a painting change
your perception of that painting? Which impulses from the others make it into your perceptual
field? In my eyes, this is an area in which art history has failed; it has failed to recognize the
importance of experiencing things
with
others. This is a field where the issue of connectivity comes
in – of how the awareness of being connected influences your sense of subjectivity. We are on a
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