Olafur Eliasson: Little Sun 28 July - 23 September 2012 at Tate Modern, London Photograph: Tomas Gislason

Olafur Eliasson enlightened us around this unique project: "Around 1.6 billion people worldwide live without access to mains electricity. Many rely on kerosene lanterns for lighting, but kerosene is expensive and a health hazard. A ten-year-old doing her homework in the evening to the light of a wick-based kerosene lantern breathes in pollution equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes a day."

"Light is for everyone – it determines what we do and how we do it. It has an evident functional and aesthetic impact on our lives. I have always considered light to be more than just something that illuminates things. Life and light are actually inseparable, and, for some time now, I have wanted to work not just with light in museums and exhibitions, but to do something where I use light in a more ambitious way that is integrated into the world. This is why, together with the engineer Frederik Ottesen, I have developed the solar-powered lamp Little Sun. What is interesting about solar energy is that it takes something that is for all of us – the sun – and makes it available to each of us." 

"Little Sun uses the natural energy of sunlight – where energy is unavailable or unreliable, not affordable or not sustain- able. The lantern can save a family living off grid 90% of what it usually spends on kerosene for lighting, while providing ten times more and better light. Five hours of natural light is converted into five hours of Little Sun light. Little Sun makes light for living – for cooking, eating, for reading, writing, for looking, for looking at. It sets the frame for studying, for social encounters, aesthetic experiences, work, and commerce."

Little Sun is a work of art that works in life. Over the years, I have explored our modes of perceiving space, time, and so- ciety. My artworks amplify our senses and how they work. They invite visitors and users to consider and reconsider how they perceive and understand the world, to question what it means to live and act in our societies today.

I find it important to critically engage in both local contexts and global discussions, to contribute. Our active involvement has consequences for the world, and so does art.

"An artwork is never just the object; it is also the experience and its contextual impact, how it is used and enjoyed, how it raises questions and changes ways of thinking and living. The same is true of Little Sun. The solar-powered lantern and the activities enabled by its light are just one element of the artwork; equally important are the way it connects us and what it tells us about energy access. Its distribution, business plan, and successful integration into off-grid communities – its entire journey from production to usage – is also all part of the art."

"Little Sun responds to the situation we face today, where natural resources no longer abound. Energy shortage and unequal energy distribution make it neces- sary to reconsider how our life-sustaining systems function. I see Little Sun as the wedge to open up this urgent discussion from the perspective of art, to raise awareness about energy access and the unequal distribution of energy today."

Just remember: by buying Little Sun at full price in areas of the world with electricity, you help make it available for a lower price to communities with no or inconsistent electricity. Time to do some good!

Olafur Eliasson: Little Sun, Tate Modern, 28 July - 23 September 2012, www.tate.org.uk

http://www.olafureliasson.net/index.html

LittleSun GmbH, Christinenstrasse 18/19, Haus 2 D - 10119 Berlin, Germany