Check out the Telegraph's review of Tracy Emin's exhibit at The Turner Contemporary, Margate, a show the critic says treads a fine line between poignancy and irritation.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/9290563/Tracey-Emin-She-Lay-Down-Deep-Beneath-The-Sea-Turner-Contemporary-Margate-review.html#disqus_thread
I guess my only thought is this...If you beat the same drum long enough, it all starts to sound the same to the listener. It's a similar problem I have whenever Damien Hirst releases something "new". You're interested, you see it, but there's nothing "new" about it. It's a strange sense of deja vu where you know what you're looking at is different, but the emotion you feel, the concept, the thought process and the atmosphere seem dull. It's like a remastered release of an old favorite record. You might buy it, gaze at the album art or the extras, but the main attraction doesn't lift you to a new level, it brings to back to something previously experienced. It might not be bad, but you're more likely to dwell in nostalgia rather than let the music change your life. You don't discover, you emerge into an already-visited memory.
If you beat the same drum long enough you begin to live to the rhythm and sound created. Changing drums begin to sound wrong instead of new, new areas seem uncomfortable instead of confident. For an artist who thrived on surprising and challenging the viewer, this exhibit doesn't demand, it politely asks. And when it does, I politely respond "I'm full, thanks."
No comments:
Post a Comment