Continuing with my visit to the Tate Modern, there were two works in particular that I wanted to talk about. The first piece is by the artist Seung-Taek Lee and the work is entitled ‘godret stone’. The work consists of multiple stones suspended on cord at differing heights from a long plank of wood. Both visually and ideologically this piece is similar to my own work and firstly in the visual sense, the use of materials and his method of combining them resemble my early work form last year. The use of rustic, imperfect materials and combining them in a non-clinical manner, to create an almost organic piece.
Also Lee was interested in the way the physical materiality of the stones changed by suspending them from the cord. He explored the nature of the materials he used, taking a stone that is heavy and suspending it from the cord in order to give the stone the illusion of floating, taking away its natural physical properties.
Kishio Suga is the second artist whose work I particularly took notice of, having a large stone based piece placed in the centre of the room. Entitled Ren-Shiki-Tai the piece consists of stone planks constructed into a square, balancing the stones on top of each other and tied together with wire so that it is unclear what is supporting and what is supported. Suga’s main concern is in the exploration of space, with the square layout having a small opening on one side, showing a joining of the ‘interior’ and ‘exterior’ and the boundary and interaction between them .
His use of space and exploration of it through material is something that I also have considered, using the rope in my work to use a space or surface. By filling an area I draw attention to it, and if the viewer is to walk around, inside or over that area to engage with the space, they will also engage with the materials too. Using a space within a piece of work gives the space a different physicality, interacting with the work and changing its atmosphere.
