This is Sculpture, Tate Liverpool

The DLA Piper Series: This is Sculpture,

This exhibition couldn’t have been more appropriate for my project ‘Silence- part one’. Much of the work in this extensive exhibit seemed to feature themes that I am exploring, such as the perception and interpretation of what is deemed ‘reality’. This was particularly evident in the first of the 3 parts, ‘Sculpture: The Physical World’ – Curated by Michael Craig-Martin. Several pieces stood out for me including ‘Christo’s Wrapped cans Part of Inventory’, which did as the label described! Christo wrapped and transformed ordinary objects in Paris during the late 1950’s which stemmed from his fascination with the 20^th Century phenomenon of packaging. I find this notion of the use of packaging interesting especially as the phenomenon seems to have reached its peak currently. For me the work conjures questions of why we dress things up, how we portray a lifestyle or a promise of an experience far beyond the product itself through packaging.

I had started researching Warhol and his fascination with the celebrity image. His screen print ‘Cambells Condensed Black Bean Soup,’ was on display, it made me think of ideas of how we consume an image, how we are all brought in by the presentation of things. I love the way this piece questioned the very nature of art itself, how an ordinary object can be turned into something extraordinary through an image of it or a recreation, just like the notion of celebrity

The second element to the exhibition, Sculpture Revived – curated by Hemingway and Son, was quite a serial experience. As you walked around looking at representations of the human form by major artists whilst listening to cheesy music on provided headphones, disco lights dotted around you, and a central dance floor invited you in for a silent boogy whilst the representations of the human form stood, sat and lay around the edges of the space, disturbing in their ‘realness’. I found many of them uncanny to look at, as lifeless forms of material appeared to be so human, particularly the work of Ron Mueck.

The final part of the exhibition, Performing Sculpture – Curated by Tim Etchells, featured Cindy Sherman with a piece from the 1976 Bus Riders series whereby Sherman presents herself as multiple characters inspired from bus rides she had taken. I think Sherman’s work is a fascinating look at how we can manipulate our image and present ourselves as a constructed image. Her work links perfectly with my exploration of constructed realities and identities, having been looking at a lot of Sherman’s work and even staging my own ‘film stills’ / ‘constructed identities’, again, I was really excited to see this piece.