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| In full swing: Tate's Turbine Hall turned into adult playground | In full swing: Tate's Turbine Hall turned into adult playground |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall has been turned into a playground with visitors encouraged to make new friends and, literally, get on a swing. | Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall has been turned into a playground with visitors encouraged to make new friends and, literally, get on a swing. |
| Less active visitors can lie on a carpet and be hypnotised by a large mirrored ball swinging from the ceiling. “We’ve made sure the carpet is very thick so it is extremely comfortable, you can rest,” said Rasmus Nielsen, one of the artists behind the creation. “You can come here and take a nap.” | Less active visitors can lie on a carpet and be hypnotised by a large mirrored ball swinging from the ceiling. “We’ve made sure the carpet is very thick so it is extremely comfortable, you can rest,” said Rasmus Nielsen, one of the artists behind the creation. “You can come here and take a nap.” |
| Nielsen is one-third of the Danish art collective Superflex. He and Jakob Fenger and Bjørnstjerne Christiansen have been working together since 1993 and are the latest artists to fill one of the most daunting and prestigious contemporary art spaces in the world. | |
| Their huge interactive installation – divided into three sections representing apathy, ‘production and movement – is called One Two Three Swing! | Their huge interactive installation – divided into three sections representing apathy, ‘production and movement – is called One Two Three Swing! |
| A stripey carpet covers the Turbine Hall’s sloping entrance with a mirrored pendulum swinging above. Next are 22 three-person swings carefully arranged so visitors using it do not kick other people in the head. Then there is a small factory where swing seats can be assembled. | A stripey carpet covers the Turbine Hall’s sloping entrance with a mirrored pendulum swinging above. Next are 22 three-person swings carefully arranged so visitors using it do not kick other people in the head. Then there is a small factory where swing seats can be assembled. |
| The idea is that people can have fun while contemplating bigger issues such as community, capitalism or themselves. | The idea is that people can have fun while contemplating bigger issues such as community, capitalism or themselves. |
| Nielsen said that kind of contemplation was important. “It still feels like we are living in the last couple of hours of the Titanic. There is a sense of inability to imagine things otherwise, on a structural level.” | Nielsen said that kind of contemplation was important. “It still feels like we are living in the last couple of hours of the Titanic. There is a sense of inability to imagine things otherwise, on a structural level.” |
| It is not the first interactive installation in Turbine Hall. Carsten Höller invited people to hurtle down his helter-skelters while Olafur Eliasson encouraged visitors to lie down and enjoy fake mist and sunshine. | It is not the first interactive installation in Turbine Hall. Carsten Höller invited people to hurtle down his helter-skelters while Olafur Eliasson encouraged visitors to lie down and enjoy fake mist and sunshine. |
| Achim Borchardt-Hume, Tate Modern’s director of exhibitions, called the Superflex installation “one of the best pieces of intelligent fun I’ve seen for a long time”. | Achim Borchardt-Hume, Tate Modern’s director of exhibitions, called the Superflex installation “one of the best pieces of intelligent fun I’ve seen for a long time”. |
| He added: “We live in a world which doesn’t exactly have a surplus of fun, nor a surplus of intelligence, so to have both combined in Turbine Hall is a great thing.” | He added: “We live in a world which doesn’t exactly have a surplus of fun, nor a surplus of intelligence, so to have both combined in Turbine Hall is a great thing.” |
| It is, of course, possible to swing alone but the artists say it is better with three people, so they hope strangers will embrace community swinging. | It is, of course, possible to swing alone but the artists say it is better with three people, so they hope strangers will embrace community swinging. |
| Swings have also been installed outside Tate Modern’s entrance and the hope is that the concept will go viral and three-person swings will be used in the wider world. | Swings have also been installed outside Tate Modern’s entrance and the hope is that the concept will go viral and three-person swings will be used in the wider world. |
| Donald Hyslop, the project’s lead curator, said there was a lot going on in the artwork. “There are lots of layers and one of them is just elemental, for children of all ages. When you get on that swing – and I haven’t been on one for more years than I’d care to mention – you immediately reboot.” | Donald Hyslop, the project’s lead curator, said there was a lot going on in the artwork. “There are lots of layers and one of them is just elemental, for children of all ages. When you get on that swing – and I haven’t been on one for more years than I’d care to mention – you immediately reboot.” |
| It will also raise questions about the nature of life, and “climate change, currency, community, urbanism … all are there in the work”. | |
| • Hyundai Commission 2017 – Superflex: One Two Three Swing! is at Tate Modern from 3 October until 2 April 2018. | • Hyundai Commission 2017 – Superflex: One Two Three Swing! is at Tate Modern from 3 October until 2 April 2018. |