Yesterday, the Tate Modern in London opened the newest addition to their renown Unilever Series. It is not very often that I would want or need to leave New York City to visit a notable installation or exhibition, but this particular instance is very tempting. If “How It Is” is anything like its predecessors, it will be quite an experience.”How It
From Artdaily.org:
Polish artist Miroslaw Balka has constructed a huge steel container, held aloft on two-meter high supports, which is open at the far end of the space as visitors enter.
They can walk up a ramp into the pitch black space, measuring 13 meters high, 10 meters wide and 30 meters long.
Entitled “How It Is,” the sculpture is designed to convey a sense of unease as the visitor walks into the container as if completely blind. The sculpture is on show from October 13 to April 5, 2010. “You can shape this yourself,” Balka said of the commission. “The shape you create is not just about your body, it’s about your mind.”
The title of the installation takes its inspiration from Samuel Beckett’s novel “How It Is,” about a narrator who looks back on his life as he crawls through mud.
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Miroslaw Balka’s “How It Is” will remain in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall through April 5, 2010.
2 years ago | Tags: tate modern unilever series london Art Installation
We’ve all heard the expression stop and smell the roses. But artist David Robert asks us to stop and listen to the roses.
I learned about the natural explorations of artist David Robert in the “inspirational series” by Bassett & Partners, an ethnographic research firm based out of San Francisco. The company makes these short, inspirational films to just get you to think about the world a little differently (you can sign up for the email list to receive them—it’s free).
The artist himself was inspired by turn-of-the-century botanical experiments, particularly an Indian scientist who declared that plants are sentient beings—they grow toward the sun, some of them respond to touch, and overall they make decisions to survive. The only difference is, plants operate on a different time scale, and we don’t have the time or patience to notice.
In a brilliant mix of art, nature and technology, David Robert has created a way for us to stop and listen to trees. Using electrodes, Robert re-routed the bio-electrical signal of plants and trees when they move, and turns it into sound, so we are actually listening to the movement of trees. There is no time like the present for artists to address the alarming issue of environmental destruction, and Robert’s artistic experiments definitely force us to think about plants more sympathetically.
To learn more about David Robert and his fascinating Singing Trees projects, watch the video here.
2 years ago | Tags: art nature art installation environmental issues David Robert nature art environment
