Mire Lee - Open Wound at Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London

Mire Lee - Open Wound

 

The current installation in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern is Mire Lee's Open Wound (on until 16 March 2025).  The Turbine Hall is seen as an industrial womb in this installation where various "skins" - fabric sculptures suspended on chains - emerge from a machine coated with a liquid that drips from the machine's tentacles. Then they are moved to racks to harden before being added to the rest of the "skins" populating the Turbine Hall.  The installation is supposed to evoke images from both the textile industry and mining whilst also referencing the Turbine Hall's industrial past.

Mire Lee - Open Wound

The "skins" are drenched in a viscous liquid...

Mire Lee - Open Wound

Detail of a "skin"...

Mire Lee - Open Wound

Not sure whether this was the "skins" drying or being prepared to enter the machine...

Mire Lee - Open Wound

We are told Open Wound is supposed to remind us of a deserted construction site with "an atmosphere of futility and melancholy, where something has started to wither " whilst the "skins" are also supposed to "suggest an eerie solidarity".

Elsewhere in Tate Modern, I liked these by Petrit Halilaj.  These were large winged insects - moths - drawn to the lights.  He made these with his mother, Shkurte, using Kosovar fabrics and carpets. He wears them as costumes during performance pieces and often produces moth themed work. Apparently Halilaj used to chase moths around the house as a child.  His family home was destroyed in the Kosovo War (1998-99).  His work is bound up in memory and nostalgia... 

Petrit Halilaj - Do you realise there is a rainbow even if it's night!?

Petrit Halilaj - Do you realise there is a rainbow even if it's night!?

Petrit Halilaj - Do you realise there is a rainbow even if it's night!?

And the Catbus, which was part of Monster Chetwynd's installation - A Tax Haven Run By Women...

The Catbus is a character in Hayao Miyazaki's film, My Neighbour Totoro.  I wanted to climb aboard but it didn't look like that would be welcomed!

There's always something of interest at Tate Modern and apart from the special exhibitions, it's all free.