This blog will document the progress of a collaboration between 9 artists working with the Tate Modern and part of the Unliver sponsored series called The Turbine Generation form the UK and collaborating with their partners in Brazil ending in a live performance and video series.

Friday 22 June 2012

A Dictionary of Taste


A Dictionary of Taste
In this project we want to explore a person's immediate response to something, whether that is a physical object or an abstract idea, by reducing it to a question of like or dislike. When people receive these pre-made stickers we hope that they will use them to manually label what they approve and disapprove of, and then afterwards photograph the labelled object, in either a creative or straight-forward manner. In the end we plan to have a large, varied database of like/dislike photos from around the world, essentially creating an online dictionary of taste.





Mapping the research


After gathering the raw materials from our primary research we manipulated and combined them in an experimental approach, attempting to explore the interplay between the different ideas we had collected. The overall results leaned towards an abstract representation of the themes through collage. 












Street Performers


This collection of photographs shows initial research into the Street Performers in the area surrounding Tate Modern. 






Inside Out/Outside In - Tate Other


Inside Out/Outside In - Tate Other 
Inhotim sent us images of Sr Valdecir, a gardener that works in the grounds but also sells sweets on his spare time. At that time we saw a show of Jeremy Deller's work and inspired by both Sr Valdecir and Deller's work we decide to explore the Visitor Assistants (VAs) and the street performers that work outside Tate Modern. That's how Inside Out/Outside In - Tate Other started





Photos and research of the VA's for Tate Other


During the primary research phase of the Tate Other project, multiple interviews were conducted with the Visitor Assistants in the galleries. The initial interviews presented challenges that helped to form the project as it is now; the most crucial of which was the willingness of the VAs to take part in the work. As these photos demonstrate, we experimented with several ways of representing them whilst keeping and element of anonymity.






A White Piece of Paper

A White Piece of Paper
In this series of experimentations a large, blank piece of paper was cut to the exact size of the gallery entrance doors in the Tate modern. The paper was then manipulated in a variety of ways, and the unruly size of the paper created an obstruction when walked around the institution; effectively acting as a blank canvas for intervention with the public. The three short films document the performances and the reactions of the gallery-goers.