Tate Liverpool

My first reaction to the works by Jamie Isenstein 'Empire of Fire' was a mixture of confusion and amazement.

The artist had compiled a series of old fashioned pieces of furniture in the middle of the room and they were all on fire. She had turned tables, chairs, books and even a straw, into a sort of oil candle. i thought it was a really interesting idea that these everyday objects, which should have been consumed by the fire, were in-fact harvesting it.

To the left of the furniture was a fire hose hanging on the wall, but where the nozzle to the hose should have been there was a hand. I remember feeling excited to see whether the hand was real or not and just as i was beginning to think that it was fake, it twitched!

The artist then hung a be right back sign and came out to talk to us about her works. She explained that the idea for the works had originated from the play 'No Exit' which is set in a hotel room, supposedly in hell and where the characters have to live for all eternity. The symbolism of the fire hose is that its ironic, as its something that should extinguish the fire but instead there's a hand in its place. I wondered whether it was playing on the idea of lending a hand.

Throughout the works the artist plays on the fascinating idea of inanimate objects becoming animate. It made me think about the way in which work is presented and the idea of the artist being inside the sculpture. Is it a sculpture, performance or endurance art?

In particular I loved the photograph of the candle bending away from the candle snuffer as though it doesn't want to be put out. I really like the idea of photo manipulation and maybe this is something I should look into in my own works.

Nina Canell's 'Anatomy of rising tide' is a large hanging sculpture made of glass tubes which are suspended from the ceiling. Inside the tubes are samples collected at different depths or the Mersey river.

My first thought was that it was a piece of irony. I thought that the sculpture was supposed to represent a giant wind chime, and felt that the choice of glass juxtaposed the conventions of a wind chime i.e. it would smash. This reminded me of my own work with the idea of playing on the absurd. 

I thought that the space in which the piece was exhibited was really significant. The room had a large window letting in loads of light, revealing the bits of silt in the water, as well as the fact that the window overlocked the river Mersey. I think that presentation in the way that work is displayed is as important as the art itself. I really feel that I need to think about how I will present my own works and experiment with different ideas, as well as locations.