Tate Liverpool - DLA Piper Series - Sculpture

I really enjoyed this exhibition, not only does it contain a large amount (and a vast array) of work, it's also the way that the work has been curated that makes for such an interesting exhibition.

What was interesting for me was the idea of a 'frame' around work, whether it be an actual frame around a painting or drawing or just the physical limits of a sculpture, where does the work start and where does it finish? The reason this became of interest for me within this exhibition was because of the wall colour. When I first walked into the electric pink room (curated by Michael Craig-Martin) it was very hard for me to look around the room and pick out an individual piece of work, instead I could only seem to see the room as a whole. The pink acts almost like a bridge between the pieces, linking or merging one to another, the whole room becoming a single work of art rather than a collection of individual pieces.

Another of the spaces really interested me as well, this being the 'disco space'. At first you enter into a small yellow room with headphones hanging on the wall, you then take your headphones and then enter through a curtain into a large, low-lit room with purple walls, whilst various dance music is played through your headphones. Immediately you are confronted by Ron Mueck's Ghost, 1998, which, in combination with the loud music playing in your headphones, is quite a scary and overwhelming experience. The room was also empty at the time I walked in, so when you combine that with your lack of sound from the room itself, it was really quite surreal. After a few moments you get your bearings and I really began to enjoy the experience. The sculptures just seem to fit really well within the context of the flashing dance floor, disco balls and loud music. It perhaps detracts from the meaning of the original piece but in that situation, again it was more about the curation of the room and bringing the pieces together as a whole.

These are a few of the pieces on show:

Ron Mueck, Ghost, 1998

Bridget Riley, Hesitate, 1964

Tony Cragg, Axehead, 1982

Jeff Koons, Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Dr. J Silver Series), 1985

Eduardo Paolozzi, Michaelangelo's 'David'?, 1987

P, Manzoni, Artist's Breath, 1960

P, Manzoni, Artist's Shit, 1961

Franz West, Viennoiserie, 1998

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917 rep. 1964

Pavel Buchler

Fly, 2009

I couldn't find an image of this piece so firstly... apologies for that. However, I was interested by the simplicity of this piece and it's effectiveness in drawing the viewer in. The piece is based around an 'exit' sign, which appears to have a fly trapped inside. Upon approaching the piece you hear this faint 'buzz' and immediately you feel compelled to get closer to the object, almost touching, in order to know whether you are hearing a real fly or not. I also liked the visible power leads, I'm not really certain why... it just seems to add a certain charm or something to the piece.

Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson

The Four Horsemen, 2009

I saw this piece in the Leeds City Gallery, as a part of the Northern Art Prize exhibition. I wasn't over excited by the actual work itself but more it's placement within the gallery. Upon entering, what is usually quite a 'traditional' space, you were confronted by a vast, white cube, from which a loud soundtrack could be heard. This just seemed quite surreal but really contrasted well with the other works on display in the room. I liked how white the walls were, very pure and again a stark contrast to the blue walls and gilded frames which occupy the space around the piece. Once inside the structure, the lighting was very bright, which really brought out the 'whiteness' of the walls. I wasn't so keen on the fact that you could see the power leads (although covered for health and safety reasons) and also the brackets, which were supporting the 4 television screens, they seemed to detract from the 'myth' of the piece, it no longer felt as if it had appeared in the room through some form of magic but in all i enjoyed the piece.

Juan Munoz

I've been a fan Munoz's work since I saw his retrospective at Tate Modern a year or so ago. I really like his figures, the seem to occupy a space between humor and horror. I don't quite know whether to laugh or run for my life for fear of their seemingly inevitable animation. Also items such as scissors and a knife, which are held within two of the pieces pictured above, also add to the air of uncertainty and to unsettling the viewer... or at least they do me anyway.

Gilles Barbier

I really enjoy the morbid humor of this piece and I just like the idea of the 'super hero' having to face it's own mortality. They are meant to represent this idea of an invincible or unfaltering 'good' but yet they deteriorate like the rest of us.

This is just amazing.

Wim Delvoye

I came across a piece of Delvoye's work a while a go but it wasn't until today that I fully researched the artist. It's safe to say that I was pretty blown a way by his work. The 'completeness' of it really appealed to me, the body of work just feels well rounded, like he has considered every possibility of the work and then pushed it to it's limit. I also love the business like approach to the production of the 'Cloaca' series of work and that whole idea of the production line/factory idea within the art world. This approach is something that I feel will suite the subject matter of my current work really well and has already given me several ideas that I feel now are worthy of exploration.

http://www.wimdelvoye.be/

http://www.rethinkclimate.org/titel/rethink-the-implicit/?show=bzw

tove storch

UNTITLED, 2009
- Cloth, silicone, metal, variable dimensions

Tove Storch’s artistic production occupies the field of kinetic sculpture, often with an added element of subtle mystery. In an investigation of the potential for cognition offered by the faculty of sight and the human body, she experiments with the qualities of the materials used and with the basic premises for sculptural production.

The work consists of five black display cases created on-site specifically for the room at Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art and the daylight there. The cases consist of thin, semi-transparent fabric covered lightly with silicone and stretched onto delicate metal frames. Outlines and dark shadows reveal the presence of objects hidden behind the surface of the display cases, like suggestions of a secret life. At first glance the cases seem static, but upon closer inspection the veiled objects start moving and changing as the daylight changes and as the audiences moves in and around the work. Still, what seems at first to be recognisable remains abstract and the sombre, silent objects do not reveal their secrets. The unresolved quality of the experience is an important point to Storch. We see and wonder without being given a definitive answer. Storch plays with what we think we see and questions that which we take for granted.

http://www.rethinkclimate.org/titel/rethink-the-implicit/?show=bzj

Thilo Frank (de)

VERTICAL SKIP, 2009
- Light rope, motor with control unit, sensors

Thilo Frank’s artistic endeavours are infused with an interest in the physical interaction between the work of art and the spectator. The relationship between sight and movement is explored by means of technological tools. According to Frank, the non-verbal language of art has a distinct communicative potential; a statement made on the basis of the belief that knowledge and cognition often takes a physical, bodily experience as its point of departure.

The work Vertical skip is a light sculpture consisting of an eight-metre light cable suspended from the ceiling. Rotating around its own axis, the light cable creates a threedimensional shape in the dark room. Built-in sensors ensure that the speed changes as movements in the room are registered. When someone approaches the sculpture, its radius is widened, its speed is lowered, and its rhythm is changed. If more people are in the room at the same time, it takes a certain degree of navigation and co-ordination to agree on the right movement and speed. The sculpture then becomes a visualisation of this cooperation. With his poetic approach Frank directs our attention to our actions and their consequences – to how we affect our surroundings for better or worse.

http://www.rethinkclimate.org/titel/rethink-relations/?show=byx

Tomas Saraceno (ARG)

BIOSPHERES, 2009
- Inflatable modules, acrylic, rope, plants, water

Biospheres is the term used by Saraceno for his floating, transparent globes. Taking a metaphorical, poetic approach to serious subjects such as the overpopulation of Earth, environmental issues and migration, Saraceno attempts to create new relations between culture and nature. The biospheres of this work are inspired by careful scientific studies of e.g. the formation of clouds, soap bubbles and the geometric principles in spider webs. Several of the spheres contain plant-based ecosystems, while the largest of them invites spectators to step inside.

Saraceno is originally trained as an architect and his biospheres can be seen as models for alternative types of social spaces and habitats for human beings. In this context he is interested in the airspace (in other, outdoor projects he quite specifically works with the sky) which to him represents a “free” space; a space that is not subject to national restrictions and which still allows for the free movement across borders. Saraceno is an example of an artist who addresses the complex climate issues of the world without a nostalgic perspective; rather, he wishes to utilise the consequences of the ongoing global changes and technological developments in a positive, utopian rethinking of the way in which we have organised the world.

...well this was always happening.

First blog post... EVER.

I really am behind the times...