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The Long Weekend At Tate Modern
26 - 29 May 2006

by Vera Brozzoni

It was a long May bank holiday weekend on London’s South Bank; in occasion of the opening of the new collection displays. The Tate Modern and its sponsor UBS have created a festival of art and live events that took place in the last weekend of May.

Every day the events were inspired by one historically important art trend: Futurist Friday, Surrealist Saturday, Abstract Sunday and Minimalist Monday. The schedule was so rich that I could not focus my attention on everything, but it was great fun.

The real treats of the program regarded
the muso-film events held throughout
the building

Outside the big building the Raw Canvas Skate Park showed how fearless can eight to 12 year-old-boys can be with a skateboard under their heels; the public enjoyed the variated tricks which took place on the skating platform, although I can imagine the boys’ mothers going completely hysterical at them. But down the big descent of the Turbine Hall kids and parents had innocent and cultural fun with The Great Turbine Challenge, sort of a giant chessboard full of art-props like Magritte’s black hats or Warhol’s Brillo soap boxes, whereas pseudo-artist-teenagers (even more fearless than skater kids) are kept safe in a wildlife sanctuary called Long Lounge.

Now that human beings aged 0 to 20 have been put right where they belong, let’s see what fate awaited adult visitors (those without kids): every day various Art Talks with the likes of musician David Toop and broadcaster Jacqueline Springer delighted the public who wanted to have an original insight on a particular art trend or a work of art exhibited in the gallery.

''Abstract
Sunday
presented a
performance
of John Cage’s
Musicircus''

But the real treats of the program regarded the muso-film events held throughout the building: in particular the Saturday night screening of rare surrealist film Dreams That Money Can Buy, made in 1947 by Dada artist Hans Richter, with live accompaniment by eclectic band The Real Tuesday Weld (Stephen Coates and his musicians) with Brazilian vocalist Cibelle as a special guest.

The screening took place at the end of the Turbine Hall, an amazing venue filled with coloured lights and the natural fading light of the day; each person was provided with a cushion and sat scattered along the wide downward corridor, where they could easily see both the screen and the stage below.

The film tells the story of an ordinary man who find out he can read other people’s dreams by looking at them in the eye and sets up a business; he sees his customer’s hidden, darkest fears and desires and describes them, much to the surprise of the customers.
Each dream - every episode in the film - is inspired by the work of an artist (Man Ray, Fernand Leger, Alexander Calder and other big names of the history of art); the music, composed and performed by The Real Tuesday Weld, followed every different mood in the film with pieces that mixed electronica and cabaret music; Cibelle’s angelic voice adds an element of contrast, making the whole ensemble sound even more surreal. Yet, it would be interesting to listen to the original score to the film, since it was composed by various musicians like Darius Milhaud and writer Paul Bowles.

The day after was a mess of people and music: Abstract Sunday presented a performance of John Cage’s Musicircus, a three-hour composition featuring pre-recorded tapes, a brass ensemble touring the gallery with percussion and guitars.
As a result, it was impossible to move around the wide spaces without stumbling into crowds, musicians or strange sounds coming from amps.
I think this is the effect that Cage’s composition aimed at: wonder, enjoyment, progression from one kind of music to another according to the space; it is difficult to say, though, if he ever imagined such a huge crowd of people gathered to listen to his work.

This long weekend had something interesting to offer to anyone who is into modern art; hopefully the partnership between Tate and UBS will give more fruits in the future.