Faceless Faces; Review

During my visit to the Tate Modern, on the 9th of October, I'd viewed many artistic pieces; ranging from tiny paintings to ceiling high structures- all of which were amazing and inspirational in their own way. Upon entering the room labelled 'Transformed Vision' it was clear that there was a real lack on colour and the pallet was limited through out most artworks, or rather more dulled down. This gave it a sense of eeriness and arose question within me, which cased me to look around.

The one that struck out to me was the one in the picture above; Candelabra with Heads, a sculpture by Thomas Hirschhorn.

Found in the Transformed Vision room on Level 3. This piece particularly struck out to me because of the initial shock I had when coming across it. The strange figured rolled up in brown tape, with heads emerging out of them- or submerging into-, all stuck to a wooden frame; was definitely something to stop and ponder over.

"This is something essential to art: reception is never its goal. What counts for me is that my work provides material to reflect upon. Reflection is an activity."

Learning that this was part of an exhibition called Concretions, a term from geology and medicine which suggests the growth of a solid mass. This sculpture got me to reflect upon what it could possibly mean and how it could relate to the theme or the room. The juxtaposition between bodily and abstract art, and themes that followed the Second World War. I see it as the after image of the Second World War, in which the bodied of the dead were mostly rolled or covered in sacks and burned- hence the wood. I also see a connection between the birth and death of a person, a child being emerged from a covering only to be submerged into another after death.



Bibliography

'Critical Laboratory: The Writings of Thomas Hirschhorn (October Books) by Thomas Hirschhorn, Lisa Lee and Hal Foster (2 Aug 2013)'

'Material: Public Works - The Bridge 2001 (Warm Seas) by Thomas Hirschhorn and Craig Martin (1 Aug 2001)'

'Thomas Hirschhorn (Contemporary Artists) by Alison Gingeras, Benjamin H. D. Buchloh and Carlos Basualdo (Sep 2004)'

'Thomas Hirschhorn: Establishing a Critical Corpus by Claire Bishop, Sebastian Egenhofer, Hal Foster and Thomas Bizzarri (1 Jun 2011)'

'Thomas Hirschhorn - it's Burning Everywhere by Ulrike Lorenz (1 Mar 2011)'

'Thomas Hirschhorn: Kurt Schwitters-Plattform by Carina Plath and Annerose Rist (9 Dec 2011)'



'"ART IN REVIEW; Thomas Hirschhorn -- 'Cavemanman'". New York Times by Kimmelman, Michael (2002-11-15).'

'Bringing Art and Change to Bronx. New York Times by Randy Kennedy (June 27, 2013)'