sad art

Although the art world has been hit by the economy, it is certainly not as serious as some other markets. There are constantly people arguing that everything in the art world is fine. Maybe true, but the tone of the art has definitely gotten lower.

I would like to call your attention first to Carsten Holler's 2006 installment in the Unilever series. He turned the Turbine Hall into a playful, visually challenging space. Everyone can relate to a slide - it brings up associations with joy and childhood, nostalgia. And these slides are large enough that even as an adult, who could resist the temptation?


Now in comparison I would like to consider the most recent addition to the Unilever series - Miroslaw Balka's 'box of darkness.' It is a massive, interactive steel box that could be considered sculpture or architecture. Visitors can either enter the box and experience total darkness, or they can walk under it and listen the experiences of those above.


It must be a struggle as an artist commissioned to deal with this enormous space, to fill it up or change it. I think it is so interesting that in the past couple of years the art has gotten so much heavier. This piece is related to Polish history and immigration, but it is also a mode of self-reflection. To explore total darkness, visual silence, is to experience heightened input from the other senses in a way that you cannot do out in a city. The emptiness and cold of the steel reflect a different period for art and sculpture where excess and frivolity are replaced by inward contemplation.