Today, I went to the Tate Modern, just for fun. Actually, was my second visit to Tate this year so far. I really enjoy being there, going to the gift shop where I can flick through the books they have about architecture, painting and installations - for example; or even going to free expositions where it is possible to see works that create dialogue with the materials and spaces of everyday buildings or artist around the world that have examined the modern city in a range of works. It is really enjoyable to go to the rooftop and just being there seeing all the buildings of City of London, the Thames and all the wonderful views. Even, all the journey is enjoyable: the walk with the Thames in parallel, or, by other side, the Saint Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge.
I decided, just focus in one exposition. In Blavatnik Building, level 4, west side in the George Economou Gallery - Living Cities, I found a video about a South-Indian artist - Sheela Gowda. In this video she talk about her work and all the process of finding different materials and connect them as one to create a new piece of art, and how she framed his work.
In this video, she is focused in her installation called Behold (2009). She wanted to select two different materials, one related with humans and the second related with industry. She explained that in India the taxi drivers put human hair in their cars as an amulet for luck. So, she decided to do the same and made Behold with real human hair and car bumpers (image 1).
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(Image 1 - Sheela Gowda Tate Moder’s Intallation - Human hair and car bumpers)
Nevertheless, in this video she said two sentences that resonated in my head all my journey back home. The first one: ‘you absorb from finding things that is new or surprising and not everything you find becomes materials for work, but there is a moment when an idea and a material comes together’. I realised, on the one hand, I am always absorbing different ideas, as for example, when I am talking with a friend, discussing a social subject; or different cultures, as for example, talking with people from different parts of the world (London is a good example of a multicultural city where it is possible to find people from different parts of the world, talk with them and discuss different subjects as social, culture, politics or arts). On the other hand, I am always absorbing other types of art, as for example, paintings, photography, architecture, literature, sculpture and installations.
The second one: ‘The material also has a different context of its own. So, I try to transform the material without changing its identity to much.’ I noticed, in my music, a connection with the idea of having different types of materials and trying to transform them without changing its identity to much. However, try to create a new gesture keeping my own identity using those materials. Also, I could be interest in one specific type or genre of music but I do not want to be a composer related to those. In a way, I want to learn more about some unique universe without transforming myself into it.