SUPERFLEX: One Two Three Swing
I decided to pop over to the Tate Modern to try and find a poster I wanted for my house in their shop and in doing so discovered the SUPERFLEX installation called ‘One Two Three Swing’, in the Tate’s Turbine Hall. The SUPERFLEX installation consisted of sets of swings that weave through turbine hall over and under the walkway. In addition there was a huge chrome pendulum above a multicoloured striped carpet seating area. At first glance I was trying to get my head around what the meaning of it was. Eventually I found the plague on the wall explaining the installation. The three seated swings are designed to make you realise the potential of swinging as a collective and not alone, as there is a greater reward of working together instead of individually. It asks whether if we all swing together, can we change the way the Earth spins? I didn’t get a chance to have a go on the swings as the installation was very popular and in turn I didn’t get a chance to see if I could change the world. I opted to just appreciate the structure from a distance and let someone else do it, which in turn could of been seen as a metaphor in itself.
I understood the carpet and swinging chrome pendulum was meant to be a place for reflection, but reflection of what? I found out that the colours in the stripy carpet represent colours found in British bank notes and that you are invited to sit comfortably underneath the pendulum and think about whether its ‘the weight of gravity or the economy that pulls us down’? The thing is, everyone looked like they were having fun and relaxing and it seemed like the subject of the economy on a late Saturday afternoon / evening was the last thing on their minds. Nevertheless an interesting installation that is stationed in Turbine Hall until April 2018. Perhaps when I’m at the Tate in the new year, if its still there and I get a chance to go on the swings, perhaps i'll come away with a different opinion on the pull of the economy. If I do, i'll surely mention it!
As with most exhibitions, I’m always finding about designers and artists I’ve not heard of and this installation was no different. The instalment itself is designed by the Danish artists’ collective SUPERFLEX. The collective was founded in 1993 by Danish artists Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, Jakob Fenger and Rasmus Nielsen and have had installations all over the world. Its only by researching the group that I found that their art installations 'invite people to participate in and communicate the development of experimental models that alter the economic production conditions'. This gave me a small insight into this Danish collective which bodes well for my trip to Denmark in March as i'll be sure to check out their Superkilen pubic park design in Copenhagen while I’m there.