Explaining the crack at Tate Modern Museum London October 21, 2007
Posted by Andy Roberts in : Art, video, London , trackbackExplaining the crack
People walk up and down along the length of the crack, and sometimes they cross it. Bending over and peering down into the abyss is popular too. Children like to walk with one foot on each bank of the gorge, like giants playing at trains. Those with a logical literal nature are puzzling out loud as to how the crack was constructed. Some are chatting about other times in other worlds, not really conscious of the art, but still acting and behaving in a manner which betrays a spatial awareness of it. A couple holding hands over the crack, whilst ambling down to the end and back, like a promenade along the seashore. 
Doris Salcedo’s “Shibboleth”
This is Doris Salcedo’s “Shibboleth”, the latest in a series of memorable, grand modern art installations in the enormous Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, London. The first in the series being Louise Bourgeois with the huge enclosed spiral staircase sculptures, and another famous one being Olaf Eliasson’s “The Sun”. What all of these installations have in common, apart from being huge and important works of art, is the way in which the audience participates in the art. Watching the way that people interact with it is as much a part of the experience at Tate Modern as is appreciating the art itself.
Tate Modern Museum of Modern Art, London
The Turbine hall is immense, and that makes it a specific challenge for each of the artists in the Unilever series. One tried to fill it with sound, and failed in my opinion. Another with white cubes, an intriguing effort. The crack is almost as effective as the Sun for initiating strange behaviours in the London mob, although the extent to which the artist’s intention to say something about the foundations of imperialism and racism is achieved is anybody’s guess.
I took some short video clips which just happened to capture one man amongst many waving his arms about explaining the crack in belgian. There are other things going on in it as well, but he is clearly the star performer. Watch:
is an online professional who initiated DARnet 
Hmmm, seems cool.
Joe joestain13@yahoo.com
Everyone just has to have look. How deep is it? Was it made by an earthquake? Is this the crack in society? Why is it there? Will it get wider? Will the building collapse? Who is Doris Salcedo? And why are the maker of Pot Noodle sponsoring it? Is this he begginning of the end?
Time for a pint…
What’s Pot Noodle got to do with it….? Yes, Unilever is the proud owner of that particular brand but there may be another connection, look…
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2007/apr/potnoodle
A number of Pot Noodle products on sale in the UK have been withdrawn from stores due to a packaging fault. Affected plastic pots may have developed cracks either in the base or the side wall, which could result in hot liquid leaking out.
Hi, was there too!! I wasn’t very impressed by the crack, I thought it’s more a conceptual idea than that it’s impressive by its physical translation.. I was very impressed by the exhibition with the work of Baselitz (george) though (in another museum).
The method for producing the crack is certanly very creative; the things I noticed: 1) chain link (very visible) has been used to hold the poured concrete. 2) the surface of the poured concrete seems to have been cast in a continuos or at least very long rubber mould. 3) in some places the two sides of the gap are too close for having been cast elsewhere and moved in place, a suggestion that maybe they were cas in-situ
I still do not have all the answers, but the 3 above points can be added to others to find the solution to the obvious game posed to us by Salcedo
Although the production methods are interesting I think you can get hung up on the how-it-was-made rather than why-it-was-made. The Tate press machine offered up some pretty bland statments, apparently quoting Salcedo itself, which were picked up and endlessly regurgitated. This is one of the only places were the artist actually says what she thinks about the space in which she has placed the piece.
http://bluemagtest.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/doris-salcedo/
The scale and impact of this installation is mind blowing and I can’t imagine there’s a better backdrop than the Turbine Hall for such a statement. A company called Brick Image that were involved in the installation give a small clue as to how the crack was created.. they don’t give too much away but worth a look:
http://www.brickimage.co.uk
Thanks for the link to Brick Image, which does indeed give a clue as to how the illusion was created. I was at the entrance to the turbine hall this week, and it’s still closed after the crack has been filled in and a new exhibition not ready yet. I’ve heard that there is indeed a slightly visible scar left, and that brings up another issue - that of the giant graffiti being painted directly onto the brick at the front of tate modern. I imagine more work for brickimage trying to put it back to a natural appearance brick after the paint has been removed months later.