I popped into Tate Britain on Monday. I had a bit of a look at the famous paintings by Turner and Constable, but then spotted something that looked more interesting, on the far side of a big door. Peeking through a gap I thought the gallery staff must have still been working on a new display, but the door was not locked, so I wandered in.
Some big lumps of England's finest old tools, by Wadkin and others, were on display on top of giant plinths.
Not the usual sort of thing to find in an art gallery, but you can't deny that they have an abstract, sculptural appeal as well as looking useful and ripe for restoration and being put back to use.
The display is by an artist called Mike Nelson and it's called "The Asset Strippers". All the items on display have been bought at auction and come from closed down businesses. There's a point in there somewhere about how Britain has moved away from making things, and one consequence is that to all but a tiny and shrinking minority of people, these things look huge, antique and as puzzling as something from an Egyptian pyramid. You can read more about the exhibition here
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-b ... ike-nelson
and visit it, free of charge, until the 6th of October.
Sadly, there are no Wadkins in the gift shop.
Some big lumps of England's finest old tools, by Wadkin and others, were on display on top of giant plinths.
Not the usual sort of thing to find in an art gallery, but you can't deny that they have an abstract, sculptural appeal as well as looking useful and ripe for restoration and being put back to use.
The display is by an artist called Mike Nelson and it's called "The Asset Strippers". All the items on display have been bought at auction and come from closed down businesses. There's a point in there somewhere about how Britain has moved away from making things, and one consequence is that to all but a tiny and shrinking minority of people, these things look huge, antique and as puzzling as something from an Egyptian pyramid. You can read more about the exhibition here
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-b ... ike-nelson
and visit it, free of charge, until the 6th of October.
Sadly, there are no Wadkins in the gift shop.
