Random Art Attack IV

Well, this is definitely considered to be "Art" as it is currently displayed in the Tate Modern Art Gallery in London, but I was skeptical at first. It seems more akin to a Disneyland ride than to be appreciated as a work of art alongside, say, a Picasso, or even a Duchamp sculpture (slash urinal?) But that was because I wasn't looking at it from the right perspective.

All I saw were the ridiculously long queues that formed at each of the five slides - queues of a-typical art aficionados (i.e. lots of children who seems not to give a toss of what else was at the Tate); and that the slides were responsible for this general ambiance of loudness and activity that filled the vast Turbine Hall gallery. It ruffled my classical gallery-going feathers.

But stepping back, which I did when I purchased this postcard at the gallery shop, there was an immediate recognition that the instillation piece by Carsten Höller possesses a great deal of artistic merit. Stunning in size, remarkable in the fluidity of its movement, and so naturally, organically inspired... It's truly remarkable how it uses the space, the columns, supports and walls to propell its movement. So graceful! So massively prominentt, yet delicate, yet voluptuouss, filling the space with an almost electric current of expectancy and excitementt. It's like the space of the gallery was waiting to be filled with these slides! The silver steel and glass materials work well with the rest of the Tate and the overall effect is of looming anticipation. Stunning...