Art, News I 03.10.16 I by

Philippe Parreno turns Tate’s Turbine Hall into a giant fish tank

Immerse yourself in a world of flying fish and floating screens in artist Philippe Parreno’s aquatic intervention inside Tate’s Turbine Hall for the 2016 Hyundai Commission.

The vast space has been transformed for the gallery’s annual commission – now in its 16th year – which sees a different artist occupy the vast room with a year-long installation.

Parreno’s Anywhen combines a dizzying array of elements, from fish-shaped helium balloons that ascend and descend, to flashing lights, moving panels and suspended screens.

The artist has handed the programming of these objects over to an unlikely source – a bioreactor full of microorganisms. Installed in a mysterious lab at the back of the hall, the changing movements of these organisms will influence the sequencing of the installation, gradually evolving into a pattern over time.

‘I took it as a place where time can float and things can come in and disappear: that’s the structure of the project. It’s a time project,’ says the artist.

The aquatic theme is underscored by footage of sea creatures, while microphones placed around the building and near the river pipe in combinations of ambient sound.

A video posted by frieze (@frieze_magazine) on

‘It is never the same and it would be impossible to repeat anywhere else. I like the fact that people can come in to the Turbine Hall in the morning and meet a friend who went at the same time the day before and who will maybe have seen something completely different.’

Anywhen opens to the public on the 4 October, and runs until 2 April 2017.

Read next: Is art best viewed beyond the gallery?

Latest

Latest



		
	
Share Tweet