Tony Cragg - Stack 1975 - This artist has spent a log time "stacking" found objects. Somehow the orderly manner of how these man-made objects are placed one upon another seemed very disturbing to me. By themselves they are objects one would find in a large trash pile but the neatness and order of them now they seem almost precious. Makes me think that it is a reflection of human beings - how we spend so much time and effort into building the piles of trash we pretend not to notice afterwards. Maybe we should start building our houses out of the waste we so easily produce and discard?
Cristina Iglesias - Pavilion Suspended in a Room I 2005 - The last work I will briefly talk about in the Between the Object and Architecture gallery. This work fascinated me because it seemed to defy gravity. This interactive work is made out of steel and appears to be floating in space. Of course, it is held up by the strings hanging from the ceiling, however, steel is not a light material. The filigree pattern, which forms words, and the braided surface seem to be in such a stark contrast to what I know about this material and what it is used for. I like the idea of using nontraditional materials to create works that seem to fight the rules of physics.
Luis Camnitzer - Leftovers 1970 - In Media Networks gallery, this artist's work speaks to the violent times in Latin America. This work I selected because of the conceptual value it carries. Artists speaks about the violence people suffered from the hands of the government. This work represents the violent situation, repressions and torture in the 1960s in Uruguay, a subject I have yet to examine for my own research. This work is singular but global at the same time. The little blood stained (the blood is not real) boxes are implying that they contain human remains, all that is left of a human being. This kind of violent treatment can do that to any person. I have seen it, many other have seen it in the post Soviet and Nazi world. It is a painful idea that one person can be reduced to so little that their entire life or mental state fits in a tiny box when it should have been much larger and colourful. I imagine that the mental life of each person is more like an entire world with no borders, rather than a small container. This art work has led me to think about how a human being can be physically represented without the traditional representation of the actual body.
Carrie Mae Weems - From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried 1995-6 - This work was in one of my favorite galleries Artist and Society. Weems is examining the history and oppression of the African Americans. The slavery, their servitude, fight for civil rights, their reduced servile role in society. She uses old photographs that are tinted red and placed behind engraved glass. The text on the glass varies from full sentences to a single word but either way the message is clear and strong. The combination of seeing the person in photograph, the role given to them, and your own reflection in the glass forces viewers to think about your role in the continuous discrimination and participation in historical events and consequent systematic behavior that resulted from these events. It is harder to reduce a human being to something animalistic when confronted this way, showing their faces, their scars and nakedness.
Lorna Simpson - Her works are very well known. Her work with photographs and the characteristics of African Americans are used to explore the current social situation. Her works are mostly anonymous, thus can be very generalized. She speaks for a large population that goes unnoticed most of the time in the United States. Her masterful combination of photographs and words highlight the social problems and stigmas that still exist. I love the simplicity she uses and how much she is capable of saying with it.
The new part of the Tate Modern is called The Tanks, at the time I was visiting displays in there were concentrated around the theme of human voice. All of them were interesting and good works but I will shortly look at only two of them.
Otobong Nkanga - In Wetin You Go Do? 2015 - This art work was placed in a large and dark room that had fantastic acoustics. The concrete balls were connected by ropes representing a network of people. Only three of the balls had speakers in them that played a carefully edited tracks the were overlapping. However, because of the acoustics and location this space was truly anxiety inducing. The sound bounced from walls echoing and appearing like a lot more people were speaking. The lack of windows just amplified the feeling of entrapment. This sculptural work truly represents the contemporary anxieties. Even in a crowded place, with strong connections to others a person can be paralyzed and unable to move forward without the rest of the group. I was fascinated by the use of the space and how the artists mad eit work for her own purpose.
The other artist is Susan Hiller - Monument 1980 -1 - The theme of this work that was created almost four decades ago is still very much alive, especially if you are interested in testimonial art, like I am. Hiller explores the public memory through monuments. A photographed plaques of random acts of heroism where the hero had died in the process of saving others. Large number of these are dedicated to children and can be found in London park. These are invisible and private acts of remembering that are now overlooked by the public. This work focuses on the ideas and events that now have been mostly forgotten and ignored. In reality these plaques (and other monuments) have become "cultural artifacts." I spent a lot of time by this artwork, this exploration of different modes of remembering had me thinking. How else can we publicly remember? In what other way a memorial can be built? Do they have to be physical? Are monuments testimonies? If so, then who's testimony is it? All of these questions I still have to answer but the most important part is that it got me thinking in what other ways can we remember.
There were two special exhibits at the gallery when I was there. Here I will only briefly talk about one of them - Alberto Giacometti. Sadly I
was not allowed to take any photographs at this exhibition but I did get a small booklet that contained all the written information offered at this exhibition. Just before the end of the school year one of my professors suggested me to take a look at this artist because my drawing style had developed somewhat in the direction of Giacometti's sculptures. I was very excited to get more familiar with his work. The whole exhibition was placed in 10 rooms. It slowly moved through his entire career. I loved seeing his sketchbooks, which seemed way to neat to be an artist's sketchbook, and his slow progression from the realistic work he did to his well known style of tall and thin people. Even his cubism and surrealism days were included. It appeared that Giacometti liked to work both large and small. The contrast in scale is very entertaining at times. I saw sculptures that were about the size of half of my thumb (Small figurine on a base, 1955). According to Giacometti he wanted to create a sculpture of how a woman would look from far away. I enjoyed the highly textured surfaces of his works that gave me idea for my own work to try out in the future. For those who are interested, a filmmaker Ernst Scheidegger has made quite a few documentaries about Giacometti and his work. One of his documentaries were playing at the exhibition as well.
Giacometti's entire life's work seems to be concentrating around the fascination of human heads and faces. He started out quite realistic but in later year they became more abstract. They appeared to contain less and less of "useless" parts, in other words, the fleshy parts of the face leaving just the general shape, mouth, nose and eyes. To me it seemed that the artist was incorporating human faces in other body parts as well, masking them and playing with the human mind that always wants to recognize a face in anything it sees. I love to see the progress and changes in his practice, it is encouraging to let lose and allow the materials and ideas lead you without trying to stick to one particular style of art.
This concludes my first day of visiting galleries and museums. Tomorrow I will see something a little different.
