Art: Space Shifters @ The Hayward Gallery
The latest exhibition at The Hayward really bends the mind. It features work from the past 50 years that all focuses on playing with space and perception and seeks to disorientate the viewer in some sense or another.
It would be easy to say that this is just another Instagram Exhibition that seeks to get people in who take pictures of the art and cause their followers to buy more tickets to get equally trip pictures. The amount of mirror and glass pieces make it almost impossible to leave having taken a picture that doesn’t catch you somewhere in the frame, and it must be said that many of the pieces do feature beautifully in shots for their trippy visuals. I do think, however, that there is a little more to this exhibit than immediately meets the eye, even thought you can see through half the pieces and see behind you with the other half.
Some of the pieces inside this exhibition are not only masterful pieces of engineering but truly stunning pieces of art. As you enter you are greeted by a giant rotating mirror that really sets the tone for the entire collection but as you approach the raised portion of the first room you are met with a wholly different use of reflection. Titled WeltenLinie (2017), this large, open and interactive piece has you freely walk around and entirely bewildered as to what is real, what is reflection and how it works. Objects seem to change material and colour and it feels like stepping into a scene from Doctor Strange or Inception. Alicja Kwade, the artist behind it, manages to transform these solid and unmoving forms into something wholly fluid. You don’t feel as though you are walking around something that is truly still and it is quite an experience to have. I can only imagine the time it must have taken to conjure up, let alone fabricate and construct. Other things to watch out for include some classic fun house mirror style objects, a stunning piece of pinky purple glass work and make sure you hold the red handrail as you go up to the second floor.
Many works are far less engaging and this sadly includes Yayoi Kusama’s Narcissus Garden. It feels as though Hayward has tried to find anything by the Kusama brand so as to catch the eye of the droves of people who are suddenly paying attention to her work. It may work in snatching the attention of a person googling where they can grab a pic of her art but the actual installation is rather uninspiring. I’ve seen pictures of the same piece in other location and I think it has been better presented elsewhere. It also must be said that the queue to now see Richard Wilson’s 20:50 is rather insane considering its been sitting in an empty room under the Saatchi gallery for so long.
This type of art can feel like it has a touch of the emperor’s new clothes about it and in some cases I think that’s true. I couldn’t say that I enjoyed all the pieces or that there was merit to be found in all of them but, for the certain pieces, you cannot ignore their perplexing beauty and mind bending capabilities.
