Mike Kelley, Test Room Containing Multiple Stimuli Known to Elicit Curiosity and Manipulatory Responses (2010)© Photo: Klaus Thymann
If you thought going to an art exhibition was dull, or you ever found yourself unsure of how the art was meant to engage with you, I urge you to go to this exhibition – you will not leave disappointed.
The central aim of the project, choreographed by Stephanie Rosenthal, is to invite the audience to participate, as artist from the 1960s did, in exploring art by using their bodies.
Approaching this exhibition alone and soggy from getting caught in a downpour outside, I was initially a little afraid as I approached the exhibition room.
Couples and groups of young people were having a great time, getting up close and personal in the narrow Bruce Nauman Corridor, swinging on the hoops of William Norman and attempting to balance on a flatboard laid out by Robert Morris.
Robert Morris, Bodyspacemotionthings (1971)© Tate Exhibitions and the artist
A room full of hula hoopers put me at ease, and back downstairs I found a Hayward Gallery knight in shining armour as a gallery assistant talked me through some of the installations and encouraged me to enter one room, promising I would come out smiling. He wasn’t wrong. Inside were two mirrored walls faced by a grey one with a television screen and camera just above it.
On moving closer to the screen you see both yourself peering in and the reflection of the back of your head. Baffling, but fun.
Back outside, a performance of Pablo Bronstein's Triumphal Arch sees a dancer observing a mini installation version of the Taj Mahal, and you try everything from swinging on a rope to remaining still for a meditation session.
