- Venue
- Turbine Hall, Tate Modern
- Location
- London
If you enter Tate Modern from ground level, you would certainly be forgiven for thinking the installation was under construction and I did find myself half-expecting there to be workmen. Although, this idea of ‘under construction’ perfectly epitomises Abraham Cruzvillegas’ new commission piece Empty Lot, for the expansive and eminent Turbine Hall. This is a show of two halves, what begins with eager anticipation ends with bitter frustration.
Getting closer and closer, rearing up above you like the prow of a huge ship, the triangular deck slices through the space. I instantaneously remember the opening sequence of ‘Titanic’ where the vessel imposingly looms over the crowd. The awe builds with each step; Cruzvillegas’ titan of a structure perches upon a matrix of scaffolding, with its perimeters lit up by illuminated masts.
The mezzanine level, however, delivers a very different perspective. The deck is really more of a garden allotment – a geometric field of potted soil. The scene is striking, absorbing and yet extremely irritating. You want to walk along the artist’s floating floor and get down and dirty with the earth, but that is simply not possible. Instead, you must squint out the wealth of details and if you don’t have perfect vision, like myself, I wish you good luck.
The desire to botanise is strong. The soil comes from 36 sites all across London, from Peckham Rye to Buckingham Palace, yet nothing has been planted. This is a garden not in spring-time bloom. In a city of withering wilderness, where land is being gobbled up for property development and luxury apartment suites, Empty Lot is a blatant alarm against an endangered Eden.
The optical pattern is visually appealing, but the promise of the experience is far greater than the actual one – again, sounding a lot like the plot of ‘Titanic’. Cruzvillegas describes the piece as a “scaffolding of ideas”, as it will continue to grow over time and with each blossoming seed, Empty Lot has the potential to instigate some sort of social change. Although, the installation is fatally flawed because of the lack of humanity, all I wanted to do was get a little closer –was that too much to ask?
