24 setembro 2002

CULTURAS IN VITRO - Danger: artist at work
I was one of the hopeful punters who pitched up last week for art activist Santiago Sierra's private view at the Lisson Gallery. The whole place was - now infamously - boarded up. There was (and still is) a sign by the door, spelling it out quite clearly: "Space closed by corrugated metal." Most of the gallery guests, however, seemed unable to read. They poked and pushed, rang every doorbell of the neighbouring buildings, as if desperate for that free glass of wine often available at such gatherings. I sat on the wall across the street to observe.
What struck me was how few paused long enough to think about what was going on. The sign tells you everything, or almost. My favourite was the glam Euro couple, one of whom snapped at the other: "I told you we should have come earlier." The comic humanity of the comings and bemused goings, combined with a rugged, industrial, minimal aesthetic, made it one of the most pleasant private views I have been to in a long while. I think it's a great piece.