art OLAFUR ELIASSON AND THOMAS DEMAND two major contemporary artists discuss re-engineering the state of the planet and designing new civic systems and aesthetics for the immediate future portrait by MAXIME BALLESTEROS THOMAS DEMAND — Why do you think so many artists are obsessed with the universe and the stars: cosmic origins, space, and time? Is it because it’s the final frontier? OLAFUR ELIASSON — We should start with the same question, but slightly wider: why do the editors of Purple want to make an issue about the cosmos? THOMAS DEMAND — Because the most relevant topic right now is that the Earth is basically on the brink of collapsing. OLAFUR ELIASSON — I see. So, the cosmos question comes out of… THOMAS DEMAND — Concerns about climate change. The greater idea of, “Are we aware of what scale our life right now has?” I don’t think it’s about the…