Rachel Whiteread - Embankment
Review by Zoe Loke
As you step into the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern in London, You would be greeted by some 14,000 polythene cast boxes some stacked several meters high. Rachel Whitereads exhibition has made one new admirer out of me. Her controversial "art" has turned heads and challenges the concept of art indirectly. Her own concept for the white resin boxes was a fairly simple one.
Due to clearing her late mother's belongings, she discovered some of her personal items and realized at this point of time that her "life was in boxes". She then went on to explore the universal qualities that cardboard boxes possessed. Rachel aged 42 has made several previous exhibitions using a casting method with various different materials.
Embankment creates a labyrinth and uses a spatial transformation in effect 'casting' the space around the boxes. It holds resemblance to an archeological dig where some boxes are neatly stacked and others appear to be chaos and in ruins. The semi-opaque resin casts a silver glow aided by the special lighting fitted which creates an undetermined ambiance in my experience. The mood is light-hearted and airy, while passing through in between the stacked boxes it invoked a sense of curiosity and fun within me. Looking carefully it it in pain sight that the boxes have a bumpy texture and have been glued to one another to be stacked. The boxes were templated form ten various different sizes and shapes to form the landscape.
Critics suggest that it looks like blocks of ice or sugar cubes piled up in massive scale. One critic managed to pin-point in their view that Embankment was a failure because the boxes are in fact empty and sealed and does not invoke a sense of "collective memories" as Rachel suggests. Known art critic Brian Sewell describes it as "meritless gigantism".Newspaper reports describe it as a "deranged Argos warehouse". For these people it's a simple fact that Embankment did not 'turn them on' as with the many visitors who stared questionally.
There was no obvious didactic or polemic point to Embankment. Merely a personal expression of memories and it's links to boxes. In a very minimalistic way Rachel has achieved this. Her previous reputation of being a character showing seriousness, sensitivity, and a hard-working person is clearly demonstrated in her 'art'. Recognized for her outstanding achievement, RIBA recently awarded Rachel Whiteread with an 'Honorary award'.
Whether or not Embankment could be coined as Art is questionable and Rachel has brought this forward to out attention "what is art?".
In my experience when visiting this exhibition I experienced for myself a sense of a winter wonderland which invoked my curiosity to what was Rachel's motive behind this gigantic display of white cubes. Instinctively It reminded me of playing hide and seek like a child would. Trying to find the smallest gaps to pass through and being like a mouse in a playpen. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have never has the pleasure of viewing an exhibition such as Embankment. It left a lasting impression and I am positive that was Rachel's intentions.
Yeah, seems random that I would post this here. I have a very good reason... :P I'm GIFTED
Review by Zoe Loke
As you step into the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern in London, You would be greeted by some 14,000 polythene cast boxes some stacked several meters high. Rachel Whitereads exhibition has made one new admirer out of me. Her controversial "art" has turned heads and challenges the concept of art indirectly. Her own concept for the white resin boxes was a fairly simple one.
Due to clearing her late mother's belongings, she discovered some of her personal items and realized at this point of time that her "life was in boxes". She then went on to explore the universal qualities that cardboard boxes possessed. Rachel aged 42 has made several previous exhibitions using a casting method with various different materials.
Embankment creates a labyrinth and uses a spatial transformation in effect 'casting' the space around the boxes. It holds resemblance to an archeological dig where some boxes are neatly stacked and others appear to be chaos and in ruins. The semi-opaque resin casts a silver glow aided by the special lighting fitted which creates an undetermined ambiance in my experience. The mood is light-hearted and airy, while passing through in between the stacked boxes it invoked a sense of curiosity and fun within me. Looking carefully it it in pain sight that the boxes have a bumpy texture and have been glued to one another to be stacked. The boxes were templated form ten various different sizes and shapes to form the landscape.
Critics suggest that it looks like blocks of ice or sugar cubes piled up in massive scale. One critic managed to pin-point in their view that Embankment was a failure because the boxes are in fact empty and sealed and does not invoke a sense of "collective memories" as Rachel suggests. Known art critic Brian Sewell describes it as "meritless gigantism".Newspaper reports describe it as a "deranged Argos warehouse". For these people it's a simple fact that Embankment did not 'turn them on' as with the many visitors who stared questionally.
There was no obvious didactic or polemic point to Embankment. Merely a personal expression of memories and it's links to boxes. In a very minimalistic way Rachel has achieved this. Her previous reputation of being a character showing seriousness, sensitivity, and a hard-working person is clearly demonstrated in her 'art'. Recognized for her outstanding achievement, RIBA recently awarded Rachel Whiteread with an 'Honorary award'.
Whether or not Embankment could be coined as Art is questionable and Rachel has brought this forward to out attention "what is art?".
In my experience when visiting this exhibition I experienced for myself a sense of a winter wonderland which invoked my curiosity to what was Rachel's motive behind this gigantic display of white cubes. Instinctively It reminded me of playing hide and seek like a child would. Trying to find the smallest gaps to pass through and being like a mouse in a playpen. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have never has the pleasure of viewing an exhibition such as Embankment. It left a lasting impression and I am positive that was Rachel's intentions.
Yeah, seems random that I would post this here. I have a very good reason... :P I'm GIFTED
posted by Zoe @ 5:33 PM
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