The Tate Modern in London is featuring a new installation that involves a 548-ft long crack in the floor. The artist, Doris Salcedo, has titled it Shibboleth and the museum writes and incredibly interesting interpretation of the piece. The artist encourages visitors to look down deep into the crevice.
What I find even more interesting, though, is the fact that 15 people have actually fallen into one of the largest man-made cracks that they paid to go see. Believing that the leaflets, signs and verbal warnings were enough, the museum stated they they had not intended to put up other safety precautions due to the risk of taking away from the integrity of the art.
A British newspaper, The Guardian, reports some onlooker comments:
"We saw the first poor victim, a young woman who went into it with both feet up to just below her knees. She had to be dragged out by her friends," said one onlooker.
"We saw the first poor victim, a young woman who went into it with both feet up to just below her knees. She had to be dragged out by her friends," said one onlooker.
"Unbelievably, as we watched to see whether she was OK, an older woman deliberately stepped on it (she later told us, amazingly, that she thought the crack was painted on the floor) lurched forward and landed on the ground. She had a sore wrist to show for it."
Should the Tate do more to protect the visitors?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgAKJVNuAc&feature=related
This video link on youtube that gives a different perpective of the crack. This piece is growing on me.