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Appetite for Expansion
Should the Tate be given £50 million of government money to develop a space for performance?
Am I just being cynical and is this actually a great thing?
Or should some more performance makers be given money to make some actual work? There are many spaces in existence already for this to be shown.
The Tanks are the first phase of a £215 million extension project that will increase Tate Modern's size by 60% by adding 21,000 square metres of new space.
Oh my god, why would I care about the size?!?
"The public wishes to engage with these works in a very different way from simply going into a gallery and observing a work on a wall."
"We will see many more works which involve the spectator," said Tate Modern director Chris Dircon. "There is an incredible appetite for participation."
I am the public too, and I want a lot of things but just because I don't want to go into a gallery and stare at a wall doesn't mean everything needs to be participatory... Also, in general, just because I want something doesn't mean I have to get it. Is it old fashioned to think that art should challenge people? Question our desires a little bit?
(Whatever, I can't say that I am not a little bit excited to see Anne Teresa's Fase there..)
Comments
Charlie says:
I had mixed feelings about this when I saw it. The sheer scale of it makes me uncomfortable. Like. Increasing the Tate Modern's size by 60% ? I'm already pretty overwhelmed when I walk in there! It is, point blank, a massive investment in the arts and yet these kind of grand gestures too easily subsume more pressing problems.
3 May, 2012 - 10:24
Ellie says:
Interesting... I am just VERY excited by this. And generally by massive spaces.
I just hope it gets used well!
3 May, 2012 - 20:28
Charlie says:
Massive spaces are exciting, yes. And support for performance is also exciting. Let's wait and see what they do with it. I find the sudden unveiling of it weird as well. How did we not know about it? (Well that's obvious. We weren't the ones with 50 million quid going hey, let's build a performance space. And I think it's good to make people conscious of that. People think performance is what's out there. Soon this space will be a massive part of what's out there and what performance is for people. We will carry on doing our thing and I'm sure the space will be great, but how do we, the performance makers/do-ers fit into the picture? And at what stage?)
4 May, 2012 - 16:06
Charlie says:
I mean 215 million quid. Woah.
4 May, 2012 - 16:08
Jamila says:
I'm concerned that Tate is not the best equipped (in terms of experience, ha, is experience equipment?!?) for running such a large-scale space dedicated to performance.
4 May, 2012 - 08:47
Ellie says:
I have known about this for a couple of years now I think... since they planned the whole new building project. By the by. But yes, maybe only now it hits the press.
I agree with all the concern but as you say hopefully if it becomes part of the public conscience then that is a good thing.
and let's hope it's not all about the novelty factor (ahem BMW live ahem).
4 May, 2012 - 17:11
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