Just been to the Tate Modern to see the pop art exhibition, and the current work in the turbine hall. Some of the pop art stuff was great – Andy Warhol’s work is mesmerising. Some of it’s also pretty ropey, but that’s the way of it, I suppose.
Before leaving we took a look at the mammoth piece of art in the turbine hall – a work by Miroslaw Balka called “How It Is”.
Wow. It’s a huge metal box (about 60ft high and 100ft long) which is completely pitch black inside. You wander in up a ramp and are suddenly plunged into darkness – and blindness. It’s an odd feeling, especially with others around experiencing the same, and all the usual noises in the background. What feels odd is that you suddenly need to trust the artist in order to walk further into the darkness, as you’ve no idea what’s in front of you. After a few seconds I felt uneasy, and was convinced that the box was swaying. It wasn’t, natch, but it’s amazing what games the mind can play.
When you get to the far end of the box you turn around and are faced with the wall of the turbine hall, back in daylight. And, just as it seemed someone had turned the lights off when entering the box, when turning around at the far end, you can clearly see everything and things are back as they were.
I love good modern art. My personal yardstick of its greatness is the extent to which it challenges my thinking, perceptions or senses. Balka did the latter big time.
It’s good to have your perceptions challenged full-on, sometimes.
