Inside the Tate Modern

[Hamish Gill]

I enjoyed the Tate Modern a lot, I enjoyed some of the art, not all of it, but did appreciate most of it. I discovered a fantastic photographer called Ursula Schulz-Dornberg who's photos I have since been admiring a lot.

Anyway, I have mentioned a few times on here my dislike of photos of artwork... What I wanted to capture inside the Tate was peoples reactions. Mostly of course people dont react ... certainly not as much as me and Hannah did ... really some of the stuff in there does deserve a chuckle... In one room there was a glass platform hanging from the ceiling with a blob of stuff on it that looked like a poo. I might have said a bit too loudly "someone **** on a plate and hung it from the roof..." oops

Anyway, this guy was brilliant, he just stood there ... framed by two distorted figures it was a shot that couldnt be missed


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

These two women were just gossiping and giggling between them selves.


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

No idea what this thing was, but there was a queue to look into them ... no one had any visible reaction to what they saw as they walked away so I decided against queueing to look


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

There were a lot of people taking notes ... this room was fairly interesting, if a little baffling. I'm sure it's impressive if you know what you are looking at. I read the thing on the wall but half way through felt like someone was having a bit of a laugh at my expense. Maybe I just lack the intellect?


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

Some nice photography on display in this room... the subject is Hannah


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

By this point I had given up reading the things on the wall, I found much of the art more aesthetically pleasing if I didnt try to understand what someone was trying to tell me it meant.


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

I wasn't taken by this room, this was the room with the poo on a plate.


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

Some signs and people looking at them


Inside the Tate Modern by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

I might sound as though I was quite cynical about most of what I saw. I suppose I am ... But I did learn something from my visit. I am cynical about the people who make the works on show there. If i view the art independently of the person making it or the description they have given it I can view it with a lot more appreciation.
I become a lot less cynical as I walked round some of the installations and just appreciated the aesthetic. There was one room that had a shape of metal in the corner, it was pleasing to look at especially as I walked past and the perspective changed. Had I read what had been said about it I might have ruined it... I suppose I might have gained greater appreciation, but I didn't feel that was worth the risk.

The rooms I didn't take photos in I was appreciating the works on the walls. Some of the surrealist stuff was wonderful...

So yeah, I learned something about how I view this sort of thing, found some wonderful photos and generally enjoyed a lot of art... It was good!

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Great set Hammer, especially the two after the shot with Hannah in it.

 

[Pete Askew]

Brilliant set Hamish. There is lots of things in these I really like, especially the high contrast treatment. However, I'm just going to comment on two. The intensity of Hannah's face as she moves among the static framed prints. And the guy reading the sign that has been blown out by the processing. Brilliant!

 

[Darren Turner]

amazing sets of images from tate H i am surprised photography is allowed........!!

Daz

 

[Hamish Gill]

Great set Hammer, especially the two after the shot with Hannah in it.

cheers Dan!

Brilliant set Hamish. There is lots of things in these I really like, especially the high contrast treatment. However, I'm just going to comment on two. The intensity of Hannah's face as she moves among the static framed prints. And the guy reading the sign that has been blown out by the processing. Brilliant!

Cheers Pete, although I haven't really done any process to them, just brought out the shadows a touch in one or two. I just underexposed them to get an adiquate shutter speed

amazing sets of images from tate H i am surprised photography is allowed........!!

Daz

Cheers Darren, they would have a job stopping me ... I didn't see any signs saying I couldn't ...

 

[Pete Askew]

And you could always have agreed to delete them - and shown them the screen on the back to prove it!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I've really enjoyed all these Tate shots, Hamish. Thanks for uploading them

 

[Hamish Gill]

The screen is on the top, it's a bit low res too ... I'd have just run away Pete

Thanks Rob, kind of ou to say!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

I usually end up liking the buildings more that the art in them Hamish - so I end up with shots of the gallery and grounds

 

[Hamish Gill]

Yeah ... And why not I say?!

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Good Photo's Hamish and a wonderful write up of the thought's at the time and thought process. There is as photography a lot of average and poor art along side the stunning, even though the establishment may be a known establishment. I believe as with any art form be it , music or whatever there are only a few artists for whom we can engage and understand or even wish to. Along with conceptual art being very prominent it has become even harder to engage with ideas and subjects that are mostly removed from universal happenings and understandings and which focus much more on an individuals quirks of life. Outsiders art is the most obvious and probably the least seen and observed because of it's nature of being so personal.
The idea of not reading the small plaques is a good idea I think and liked the way you put that and came to a conclusion in how to get a greater amount of enjoyment from the work.

 

[Beth Anthony]

these are great, love the different exhibits and some of the odd lighting (like the last one). nice series.

 

[Glen Roberts]

Only been to an Art Gallery once and read some of the plaques just to laugh at some of the Bull $h!t they say it's supposed to represent!

Where as I just look at it and think "I like the shape of that" or "I like the colours here" or more often than not "That's Art!!! It looks like something a two year old throwing a tantrum would come up with[banghead]".

Sorry ignore this, I said something similar on another thread about Art ages ago.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Good Photo's Hamish and a wonderful write up of the thought's at the time and thought process. There is as photography a lot of average and poor art along side the stunning, even though the establishment may be a known establishment. I believe as with any art form be it , music or whatever there are only a few artists for whom we can engage and understand or even wish to. Along with conceptual art being very prominent it has become even harder to engage with ideas and subjects that are mostly removed from universal happenings and understandings and which focus much more on an individuals quirks of life. Outsiders art is the most obvious and probably the least seen and observed because of it's nature of being so personal.
The idea of not reading the small plaques is a good idea I think and liked the way you put that and came to a conclusion in how to get a greater amount of enjoyment from the work.

Thanks Julian
I was saying to Hannah as we left, sometimes I felt so far away from getting what the people were saying I found it offensive. So wordy, but then when you picked apart what they were saying it was fairly shallow. Almost as though the shallow meaning was being hidden behind this sort of over intellectualised bull crap. As if its far to little to say "I like the shape" or even "I made this when I was sad, I can't really explain it, but the shape just represented my sadness at the time" ... If there was some humility in the description I could probably connect ... In fact I would have a desire to connect. But as it stands I felt ... Well, stupid... Or at very least like it wasn't made for me... And at worst like the artist wanted me, and probably everyone else bar a select few "arty" types to feel stupid ... And frankly, that's rude!

Maybe I'm far from the truth ... And as someone who spends a good portion of his working life discussing the meanings behind font choices for branding (etc) ... Maybe I should find it easier to connect .. But I don't ... Maybe it's that simple fact that its the problem... Maybe my inability to understand annoys me and its that annoyance that makes me react this way. But at least I'm humble enough to explor that as an idea ... And until proven otherwise I shall take solace in my humility and cynicism because for me it's a damn slight better than the alternative ...

excuse the rant

these are great, love the different exhibits and some of the odd lighting (like the last one). nice series.

Thanks Beth!

Only been to an Art Gallery once and read some of the plaques just to laugh at some of the Bull $h!t they say it's supposed to represent!

Where as I just look at it and think "I like the shape of that" or "I like the colours here" or more often than not "That's Art!!! It looks like something a two year old throwing a tantrum would come up with[banghead]".

Sorry ignore this, I said something similar on another thread about Art ages ago.

... Haha ...
One of the funniest moments between me and Hannah was walking into one room and me saying "do you know what this reminds me of" ... Both me and Hannah simultaneously said "GCSE art" ... It genuinely looked the most contrived crap that really only a teenager with an over inflated sense of ... Well all that stuff that's over inflated at that age!
Hilariously **** it was!

 

[Glenn Clabo]

Hamish...My friend and I try to go to all the photography "shows" here in Boston and DC. We usually walk out discussing what we liked...and sometimes...what we could even understand. I think I would have walked out of this show...your series...I get it all and really liked it.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Thanks Glenn, very kind!

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Thanks Julian
I was saying to Hannah as we left, sometimes I felt so far away from getting what the people were saying I found it offensive. So wordy, but then when you picked apart what they were saying it was fairly shallow. Almost as though the shallow meaning was being hidden behind this sort of over intellectualised bull crap. As if its far to little to say "I like the shape" or even "I made this when I was sad, I can't really explain it, but the shape just represented my sadness at the time" ... If there was some humility in the description I could probably connect ... In fact I would have a desire to connect. But as it stands I felt ... Well, stupid... Or at very least like it wasn't made for me... And at worst like the artist wanted me, and probably everyone else bar a select few "arty" types to feel stupid ... And frankly, that's rude!

Maybe I'm far from the truth ... And as someone who spends a good portion of his working life discussing the meanings behind font choices for branding (etc) ... Maybe I should find it easier to connect .. But I don't ... Maybe it's that simple fact that its the problem... Maybe my inability to understand annoys me and its that annoyance that makes me react this way. But at least I'm humble enough to explor that as an idea ... And until proven otherwise I shall take solace in my humility and cynicism because for me it's a damn slight better than the alternative ...

excuse the rant

All art subjects have their own language . Your analogy of fonts is an interesting one. A friend of mine has this deep love of Chinese brush work for the written word, claiming it is so different from our own and in a way superior. I believe this is because we are so familiar with our own font I think the complexity of it is actually over looked and it's beauty. If we came across the western symbols for the first time as an adult , we would indeed see something very different than we do. To see more of its beauty rather than its functional use, see the shapes for being shapes rather than letters and words. It does help to have trod a path to understand something fully in a way that those who have not may not. I will say again there is a lot of bad art and a lot of misunderstood art. A lot of art that as time goes by makes sense, then becoming very popular with the public over time. This is not at all unusual.
It can be a mistake in a venue like the Tate Modern in trying to view all the work on show. It is what we all do but it is a bit akin to reading a page from thirty different novels and hoping it builds into a coherent story. It can be exhausting and disappointing. More times than not, I have left an exhibition tired and worn out, where as those exhibitions that are of one artist which shows a life times works, is curated well, helping for everything to make sense, can be a revelation, always remembered for ever, as being a great experience.

Also sorry for the rant.

 

[Brian Moore]

Very fine set indeed, Hamish. You were on a roll down in old London town.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I suspect you are correct, if I were to view some of the works I didn't like in the context of other works by the same artist maybe I would gain greater appreciation. But that's not to say that I wouldn't have the same reaction to the twiddle that was written about it

I find Eastern character sets fascinating too, although know very little about them. They are certainly pretty an it's very easy to see how they may be used to express greater meaning than just the characters than selves... Perhaps through flourishes etc.

We also have this in our letters though, but it mostly goes unnoticed by all by the subconscious
take these three well known logos and my descriptions of them ... Ok some f what I write might be because I know of the brands but the font choices etc are really based on conventions that we are all aware of on some level. I know how to describe them because I have I do it as part of my job

I would describe this font as powerful, immovable, monolithic - they have used a bold uppercase font to suggest power and perhaps longevity of the company

Barclays is a good one. Excluding the eagle, the font alone says a lot to me. It's a serif font (serifs are the bits on the corners) which tends to give a feeling of tradition, but in this case it has a very modern look. It's leaning forward which gives it a sense of movement. I'd guess they are trying to say they are forward thinking...

Ebay - lowercase, sans serif. The wide letters make it feel playful, the letters being so close together make in combination with lowercase make it feel aproachable. The range of colours to give an idea of the spectrum of products available.

Does this make me like those artists? Saying this stuff that might not be immediately obvious to everyone? Talking in a language that's not familiar to all but the initiated?

I hope not, I'd hope that quite quickly and without and real understanding of the language people can follow what I have to say.
We make logos, and to some extent have to be able to explain the reasons behind the designs ... I have to be able to explain these reasons in as plain English as possible so it is accessible to the people that I'm explaining it to.

I find this easy because its based on conventions

I hope that is where I differ from the artists we are talking about ... They are constantly trying to break convention and then justify it with twiddle ... Twiddle for me that doesn't add any real value

I may be babbling here, I think I'm just trying to convince my self that I'm not full of crap

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Very fine set indeed, Hamish. You were on a roll down in old London town.

Thanks Brian

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A bit of fonts "101" as them Americans would say - some of the very basics of conventions in fonts

modern - arial - sans serif
Traditional - time new roman - serif