I wandered around the deserted general galleries at Tate Modern recently after visiting the Andy Warhol show. It made me realise that I often ignore the permanent collections in favour of temporary shows, you know, that assumption that you can always come back later.
This time I didn’t leave before exploring further and came across a rich collection of contemporary work including the three rooms below.
This installation by Haegue Yang reinterprets Structure with Three Towers, a 1986 installation by Sol LeWitt.
Its playfulness belies subtlety of intent; I enjoyed the literal upending of a piece and the use of Venetian blinds to explore associations of transparency and opacity, the public and private; seen & unseen…
Another discovery was the fantastical Seamless by Sarah Sze, made from standard functional objects but letting the imagination run free in swoops and curves.
Different scales come into play with tiny wooden ladders held in place with clips, wires, seed pods and holes cut into the gallery wall distorting space as well as scale.
Weapon 2003-7 by Yin Xiuzhen feels threatening and unsettling. The shapes, inspired by the Beijing Central Radio & Television tower are covered with textiles and topped with bayonets made from standard household fruit knives. The subversion of domestic materials to produce lethal-looking weapons flying through the air is distinctly unnerving.
