Heather Phillipson: RUPTURE NO 1: Blowtorching the Bitten Peach

Stunning installation at Tate Britain by Heather Phillipson taking up the whole of the grand central galleries on the first floor.

I’m not sure I understood the description of this show or really understood what it was about, “changed eco-systems, maladaptive seasons and unearthed life forms”, however I loved the way it filled the space and changed the atmosphere.

The first room, shown here, was bathed in red light and dominated by a giant papier machete tree, with video screens of parts of animals on an island in the middle. The octagon at the centre of the space had a pool of water surrounded by strange creatures made of old oil cans with papier machete horns drinking from it.

The end room was bathed in blue light and Turner like clouds with bombs in sand buckets. You are drawn to a strange hut at the end. Take time to look behind this where there was a mesmerising video of a peach as the sun, rising and falling.

Closes 23 January 2022

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