The Tate Britain has given over a large space to the film making artist, Isaac Julian, and he’s filled several rooms with huge moving tapestries.
The show follows the development of his work in film and video over four decades from the 1980s through to his current work. It opens with a large room filled with hanging panels and experimental films are interlaced into the space, which leads you into a central alcove into which you can wander into side chambers for more videos.
The art aside, it’s also a beautifully designed set of rooms, and a lot of thought has clearly gone into putting each video in a suitable setting rather than just filling blank white spaces.
The slight difficulty with the show is the same one that bedevils all video art installations — it takes a huge amount of time to watch. Although we’re encouraged to spend more time looking at art, there’s a limit as to how long people can watch a video wondering if something will happen.
Undeniably, the films can be fascinating to watch, for a while, but it’s hard work to watch them for too long – not helped by seating in most of the rooms that lacks anything to lean back against and relax a bit.
The films, if you were to watch them in full last just under 3 hours 40 minutes.
It’s a hard exhibition to quantify. If you like video art, you may love it. Otherwise, it’s quite hard work.
The exhibition, Isaac Julien What Freedom is to Me is at Tate Britain until 20th August 2023.
It’s £17 for adults or free for members – and tickets can be booked from here.
Leave a Reply