Soon after Tate Modern was opened in 2000 its vast Turbine Hall became known as a space which challenged contemporary artists to create installations large and dynamic enough to fill it, in a series of special commissions, which have wowed the art world, Londoners and the millions of tourists who visit the gallery. Just recently the latest effort to fill, dazzle and amaze went on show. It is ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by the Ghanaian-British artist, El Anatsui.
‘Behind The Red Moon’ consists of three huge installations which are, basically, hangings suspended from the high ceiling.
They are made from ‘industrial’ materials, namely thousands of repurposed liquor bottle tops and metal fragments which have been crumpled, crushed, and connected by hand with copper wire into huge hangings. Later, large sheets were pieced together to form massive abstract fields of colour, shape, and line.
Act 1. The Red Moon
As you enter the Turbine Hall and walk down the gentle concrete ramp you are presented with an enormous red hanging. It is, of course, about slavery, as so much contemporary art is, especially that at the guilt-ridden Tate galleries:
The red side of ‘Act 1. The Red Moon’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
Curator explanation:
The first hanging on the ramp resembles a majestic sail billowing out in the wind. Ships have transported people and goods around the world since ancient times. During the transatlantic slave trade, enslaved African peoples were sold and exchanged for gold, sugar, spirits and other commodities. They were then taken across the ocean towards the Americas, with many labouring on sugar plantations that fuelled the alcohol industry. Later, spirits produced in the Caribbean would be shipped to Europe, and from there to Western Africa. The bottle tops used in this commission derive from a trade network of present-day commodities rooted in colonial histories. At the height of the transatlantic trade in the 18th century, sailors would sometimes use the moon to guide their journeys. Its gravitational tug as Earth’s natural satellite also sets the rhythm of the ocean’s tides. Here, red bottle tops form the outline of a red ‘blood’ moon, seen during a lunar eclipse. Elemental forces interweave with human histories of power, oppression, dispersion and survival.
When you walk beyond it you discover that the other side of the sail is yellow.
The yellow side of ‘Act 1. The Red Moon’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
Act 2. The World
The second installation is completely different – a cluster of vaguely zoomorphic shapes – yellow-gold in colour, maybe fish or fragments of continents?
Atrium view of ‘Act 2. The World’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
The trick is that, when you climb up the stairs from the atrium to the bridge spanning the two parts of Tate Modern you realise that they’ve been hung close together and then that, from a specific point of view, these apparently random shapes coalesce to form a circle. It is the earth.
Bridge view of ‘Act 2. The World’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
The curators explain:
The sculpture in front of the Turbine Hall bridge is composed of multiple layers. They suggest a loose grouping of human figures, suspended in the air in a state of movement. When viewed from a particular position on the bridge, the fragmented shapes converge into the single circular form of the Earth. The circle echoes the red moon of the sail as a fellow celestial body. Anatsui has a longstanding interest in the fragment as a symbol of renewal and restoration. He has said that ‘breaking is not destruction but a necessity for reforming.’ As separate elements, the group of restless human forms might imply dispersion through the migration and movement of people across the globe, both forced and voluntary. When viewed together, the fragmentary circle gestures towards new formations of collective identities and experiences….The ethereal appearance of the figures is achieved using thin bottle top seals wired together to create a semi-transparent, net-like material.
Act 3. The Wall
Finally we walk under the bridge and are presented with the third and largest work, another hanging, in a dire, threatening black.
Black side of ‘Act 3. The Wall’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
Once again, when you walk beyond you discover that the other side is a completely different colour and mood, the same kind of yellowy gold colour.
Yellow side of ‘Act 3. The Wall’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
A quote from the artist makes explicit the link between Tate, the slave trade and this work:
‘Tate & Lyle sugar was the only brand we used during my childhood in the Gold Coast. I came to understand that the sugar industry grew from the transatlantic [slave] trade and the movement of goods and people. My idea is to play with all these elements.’ El Anatsui
According to the curators:
Facing the yellow back of the sail, the wall might suggest an arrival at shore. Metal pools rise from the ground at the base of the wall, resembling crashing waves and rocky peaks. For Anatsui, the use of black refers to the continent of Africa and its global diaspora, charged with the potential of homecoming and return. Moving behind the wall reveals an edifice of shimmering silver, covered in a multi-coloured mosaic. As lines and waves of blackness and technicolour meet, they echo the collision of global cultures and hybrid identities that Anatsui invites us to consider throughout the commission.
Here’s what the folds of fabric look like at the foot of the piece:
Detail of the foot of the black side of ‘Act 3. The Wall’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
And certainly, because this one comes down to floor height you can really see the way that what appears to be a shimmery light fabric from a distance, is in fact made up of metal fragments, bottle tops and other strips bearing logos of consumer products.
Detail of the gold side of ‘Act 3. The Wall’ from ‘Behind The Red Moon’ by El Anatsui @ Tate Modern (photo by the author)
What did I think? Well, I always like the use of industrial waste and detritus or stuff found lying around, hence my liking for the Arte Povera movement and Land Art. And they’re certainly very very big, and do create a sort of billowing shimmery effect. And they play the slave trade card very adeptly, the same slave trade topic which was addressed by Kara Walker in this very space just three years ago. Maybe Tate should rename it The Slave Trade Hall and make every (white) visitor wear chains for the length of their visit. (Now that actually would be a challenging piece of interactive art.)
But, as you can tell, in the end, it’s very good, it’s very competent, it presses the right buttons, but…meh.
Related links
- El Anatsui: Behind The Red Moon continues at Tate Modern until 14 April 2024
- Exhibition guide
Books & Boots 