I just happened to visit the Tate Modern today. I came in near the Turbine gallery entrance and heard and then saw the flashmob style performance art going on in there. I watched that for quite a while. They seemed like swarming bees to me.
I then decided to go and visit the paintings. I'd been looking around for about 20 minutes when the alarm went off and I thought it was very odd for a place like the Tate to have a fire drill. We swarmed toward the escalators but as we arrived at the top, an attendant switched them off and ushered us back towards a small fire exit door. But there were so many people and I was feeling a bit panicky at the thought of being cramped in a small space with so many people so I sat down on a bench. Us all being a cultured lot, there didn't seem to be any pushing and shoving. Before I could get through this fire exit door I was ushered back toward the escalator by the same attendant. So we walked down the escalator and up through the turbine gallery and out into the fresh air.
After a little while the performance artists continued their crazy little performance, humming and buzzing around and drifted off around the corner to the riverside entrance of the Tate, which probably gave the visitors something interesting to look at whilst waiting for the gallery to reopen.
I didn't stay long as I wasn't sure how long it was going to be closed for.
I have just googled it, and discovered some idiot vandalised a Rothko. Something about yellowism.
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| Tim Wright's photo of the vandalism. |
The words say Vladimir Umanets (Anagram: I'm true vandalism) A potential piece of Yellowism.
I'm afraid to say that this is probably the work of some London based art students who have thought, as we all have from time to time, of wanting to create a new -ism and thought this was the way to go about it.
Well I have read through as much of their website as I care to and it just seems a load of b@llocks to me. I don't think it is right to destroy someone else's creation like this.
I don't think they have much substance to their claims for another -ism, whether this is a massive mocking of the art world or not.
And well done to the staff at the Tate Modern who got us all out calmly and efficiently!
