The drawings in Cobalt of Oblivion were made on a voyage to the chilean Juan Fernandez Island, located in the South Pacific. The well respected Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was set out for 4 years on the uninhabited island. It is said he kept watch for ships to rescue him every day from a gazebo called Mirador de Selkirk. After his return to England in 1709 he travelled through the country reporting from his island life and adventures. in 1719 Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe was released.

The starting point for Olaf Nicolai’s trip to the island was to take one photograph of the gazebo, which was then shown at his exhibition Mirador at the Kartause Ittingen in 2009. Only one print of the photograph exists; whoever wants to see it will have to travel to Ittingen. For his journey to the island he set out to keep an expedition diary. Not in form of writing but as drawings. Cobalt of Oblivion was compiled with these drawings and documents in a personal way his stay for one week on the island.