The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureArt

Tino Sehgal at the Tate Modern

Tino Sehgal at the Tate Modern | Exhibition review
9 August 2012
Eleanor MacFarlane
Avatar
Eleanor MacFarlane
9 August 2012

When you walk down the slope towards the entrance to Tate Modern, wondering what the latest artist to be given this vast space to play with has done, there is no clue from outside – the glass entrance and doors have been blacked out this time. In that spirit of discretion, it would be a terrible spoiler to reveal what actually happens inside, only to say that it is an experience, and that it is beautiful.

People are the subjects, the objects and the medium of Tino Sehgal’s work. All we can say is, you can watch from the side, and that’s alright. But we urge you to stand in the middle and hold your nerve. It is a little intimidating, but gently so, and they won’t actually knock you over.

It’s interesting timing to have this piece in London during Olympics fever, where so much depends upon crowd behaviour and joining in. It’s easier to get in step with the general flow, rather than remain a little pocket of annoyance or resistance, and yet not all of us are comfortable amidst group behaviour and crowd mentality. At their best, groups of people have a synchronicity and a geniality, and are collectives of individuals, each with extraordinary secrets and intimacies. If you feel jaded about the multitudes thronging about the city, come and experience a different shared experience.

The Turbine Hall at Tate is such an interesting place, where artists can rarely rehearse whether their “big idea” will actually work there – sometimes it does, sometimes it falls short. Some artists fill the space with their ego, while others have resonated with a small and pure idea, perfectly executed. Tino Sehgal has filled it with human interaction at varying levels as both participant and observer at once. An uplifting experience.

★★★★★

Eleanor MacFarlane

Tino Sehgal runs until 28th October 2012 at the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Admission is free. For further information visit the galllery’s website here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Art

Decentralise at Somerset House Online

★★★★★
James White
Read More

No Holds Barred: The Life and Art of Matthew Lanyon

James White
Read More

Shai Baitel announced as inaugural artistic director of Modern Art Museum Shanghai

The editorial unit
Read More

The National Gallery online: Lockdown’s top 20 most viewed paintings

The editorial unit
Read More

Art 2021: London’s best virtual exhibitions from home

Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Ten artistic depictions of the Christmas story through the ages

James White
Read More

Five gifts for art lovers this Christmas

Emma-Jane Betts
Read More

Five alternative art exhibitions for Christmas 2020

Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Sensing the Unseen: Step into Gossaert’s Adoration at the National Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • London’s best pizzas for takeaway and delivery
    Food & Drinks
  • Cruise – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Syml – Dim EP
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Birdy at Wilton’s Music Hall Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Arlo the Alligator Boy
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Ride or Die
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!
    ★★★★★
    netflix
  • Live from the Barbican: Moses Boyd
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Arlo the Alligator Boy
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • London’s Michelin-starred restaurants open al fresco right now – and all those re-opening in May
    Food & Drinks
  • Live from the Barbican: Moses Boyd
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Secret Connection – Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • London Grammar – Californian Soil
    ★★★★★
    Album review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Josh Osho – L.I.F.E | Album review
Tania Bruguera: Immigrant Movement International | Exhibition review