The thing that really moved me this week was Tracey Emin’s exhibition Second Life at the Tate. Honestly, I didn’t find it very satisfying; I’d even say I felt a bit disappointed in the artist. In terms of the work itself, there’s enough variety in medium, which includes photography, video, sound, painting, installation, and sculpture. However, I felt the spirit and thought behind the pieces were shallow and linear. Looking at work spanning nearly forty years, you realize it’s consistently depressive, tense, and hopeless. Even the slogans and neon lights felt superficial and unsatisfying. There wasn’t a strong enough clue to hold the whole exhibition together, making the experience quite tedious and draining. After seeing everything, you realize her outlook on life and the world is so still unvarying and consistent; it’s as if she has merged with her own sadness. I think that’s terrifying for anyone to have no change or growth. But actually, this is the reality for most people, and that’s what hit me the hardest.
My Bed is one of her most famous works. When she first exhibited that messy bed, so raw and completely uncurated. I think it truly moved people. Even for me, seeing it in person felt incredibly charismatic. A bed or a room is such a private space that showcases one’s personality; it triggers endless associations. While the piece is undeniably oppressive and sad, it’s understandable, given that it was from her early period. It felt like a normal sense of ‘youthful nihilism.’
This was my favorite piece in the entire exhibition. For the first time, she confronted her own self-hatred, loathing, and confusion in such a visceral and naked way. Compared to those slogans about changing the world or general misanthropy, I find this raw self-negation far more moving and touching. Sometimes a good artwork is not about the perfect technique or groundbreaking opinion but to be frank or honest about our feelings.
Compared to Tracey Emin’s exhibition, I found Klara’s Echoes far more moving and truly inspiring. The integration and richness of the entire piece were stunning and incredibly inspiring. It felt as if the installation had transplanted an entire London September indoors. Seeing those autumnal tones in the middle of February made it even more striking. What also inspired me was how Klara combined these seemingly random, organic elements to evoke such a specific atmosphere and visceral feeling.
Love Hultén has created a new masterpiece called Deckard’s Dream X2. In this build, he seamlessly integrated two Deckard’s Dream Mk2 modules with an Expressive E Osmose MPE keyboard and a built-in oscilloscope, resulting in a highly cohesive synthesizer installation. As an audiovisual artist from Sweden, Love Hultén’s ability to fuse different media and eras into these electronic installations is exactly why I’m such a huge fan of his work.
The Deckard’s Dream X2, with its seamless integration of sound and real-time oscilloscope visualization, has been a massive source of inspiration for me. I’m looking to create works that bridge the gap between the visual and the auditory.
Desert Songs, created by Hultén in 2023, is my absolute favorite piece of his. Looking at it, I’m instantly reminded of these incredible, otherworldly facilities from sci-fi universes. Both the physical design and the sonic texture of this installation feel exceptionally mature.
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