Today, a new art exhibition opens at Tate Modern. The difference is, you are unable to see it. It is in the Turbine Hall, which at first glance is just a black floor with no visible art or pattern. The only way to reveal the art is to use your own body heat combined with other peoples at the same time.
The artist, Tania Bruguera, who constructed the piece, used heat-sensitive material as she wanted the piece to be horizontally constructed. The image, which is revealed if enough people combine their body heat, is a portrait of a young Syrian refugee named Yusef, who fled to the UK from Homs and is now a medicine student.
The whole exhihibition is centred around migration – this is why it is intended to be difficult and awkward. The portrait is also partnered with a “crying room”, which uses an organic chemical compound to makes your eyes water.
A sign at the exhibition reads: “Journalism and social media bring us 24 hour information on world events. Migration is presented as an ongoing crisis and it often feels like we cannot change what is happening”.
The title of the exhibition is a number stamped onto your hand, that tells you the number of people who have migrated in the past year, plus the people who have died during their attempt to migrate.
The exhibition is open from 2nd October 2018 – 24th February 2019.
Click on the link below to watch a TedTalk with the artist, Tania Bruguera:
