Or, it might also be that the latest gallery tour has left me feeling the need for reassurance, that there is at least some sweetness left in the World - even if it is synthetic.
The Turner Prize finalists were unveiled to the public today at the Tate Britain. As a competition that aims to promote young British artistic talent and ingenuity, it was definitely something I had to see. A cloud of controversy, like at most forums of art criticism, usually engulfs this event from year to year. With this in mind, I made certain when viewing, to understand as much as I could about each of the artist's motivations behind their work. It's about giving the time and consideration to a process that has no doubt been years in the making, and therefore expecting to find layers of meaning - not one easy-to-digest message.
The first encounter was with Lucy Skaer, who enjoys pulling objects and images away from their origins and assigning them to a new context. Her motivation is to get the viewer to consider the processes of looking and interpreting. I thought this was most clear in her trapping of a large whale skull behind constructed white walls, which were modified to only allow small vertical slits, from floor to ceiling, where one could peek inside. It restricted our desires as voyeurs to be visually tantalised and only allowed snippets of details, forcing us to consider only certain parts of the skull, as dictated by the artist.
In the next room, I was greeted from a distance by a seemingly oscillating image made of gold leaf, which adorned the wall directly opposite. Despite the distance, it felt like the wall was right in front of you. This was Richard Wright's master work, who works to transform space through correspondence with its enveloping architecture. Opposite the glistening gold leaf image that seemed to spread and stir into the wall, a small red/brownish coloured detail was painted above the doorway. It stood in direct contrast to the image it faced, appearing to almost contract into itself.
Moving from an interplay of form and space, the next room projected me into a suffocating scene of unruly characters, parading distorted human forms, which were created by Enrico David to provoke the viewer to consider and scrutinise the condition of instability in humanity. For me, the paper mache egg men, straddled on rocking legs, best portrayed this concept. I managed to sketch one up quickly and have included it here.
The final display was of Roger Hiorn's analysis of material and form, subverting familiar materials alongside/or in the state of the unusual. In the middle of the room was a pile of dust, formerly an atomised passenger jet engine, prompting the viewer to question 'faith in technology' and the 'entropy of all things', after all we all become dust at some point. Three of the sculptures adorning the walls were a combination of man-made material juxtaposed with brain matter, an organic material that was once capable of cognition and experience.
If I had to choose a favourite it would probably be the work of Lucy Skaer. Mostly because I think that society has forgotten how to deconstruct what is laid out in front of them and the act of 'looking' is a key part of her concepts. I overheard many confused murmurs around the room, much of it ignorant/misunderstanding to the surrounding works. Perhaps if those people took the time to look a little closer, they might have found a deeper meaning.
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