December 2020 - Tate Modern

I really enjoy going to art galleries – and the two London Tates are my favourites. The Tate Britain has a huge collection of British art from over the years, while the Tate Modern, just across the Thames from the City of London, has an equally huge collection of modern art. My go to favourite is the Tate Modern. And not because I like all the pieces I see, or even have the foggiest notion of what they are saying, but it is always a place that challenges my assumptions of what is good art, what is it about the object that makes it worth looking at. And, of course, I don’t always come away with meaningful answers. And even, sometimes, I come home with a touch of that awful attitude to modern art that says it is too pretentious, too childish (often), and too complicated to make a useful impact. 

Well, I am pretty ashamed of those thoughts. It’s not so much that I ought to expect to like everything I see, or to understand it, but the hidden thought that says, “this is rubbish”. Of course, it isn’t, and I should always remember that my own ideas of what makes good art do not define the complete definition of art! And I do enjoy being challenged by what I see. That is one of the essentials for me, that makes my life continue to be interesting (to me at least).

There was an exhibition last year, by an installation artist, of a number of his pieces. I’m not sure that I got a huge amount of value from them – but I did enjoy their playfulness. This photo shows part of one of them. He had arranged a completely dark room that you could go into and wander around. At the back of the room, there were a set of spotlights, each with a transparent coloured acetate over the light; as people walked around, the lights and shadows showed up on the front wall … it was totally fascinating! The photo shows a part of that wall, with the shadows. I do like it – and I think that it could be a motivator for me to take more abstract pictures.