Tania Bruguera: Hyundai Commission


Strange installation at Tate Modern by Tania Bruguera.

I say strange because it relies on people to make it work and if people aren’t playing then there is nothing there except a black floor. I’d read the reviews and did suspect this might be the case. Evidently if people lie on one side of the Turbine Hall their warmth makes a face appear in the floor of the other side. Hence if no-one lies down nothing happens plus if you are lying down to make it work you can’t see what’s produced so there is no incentive to join in. It does come with a strange low frequency sound which is unsettling as you sort of don’t notice it until it gets into your head.

I think the whole thing is meant to be a take on migration and immigration but this doesn’t really come across. It’s such a shame as you can do quite dramatic things in this space but this just left it looking at same as usual but with an unexplained shiny black floor.

Closes on 24 February 2019

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