Abraham Cruzvillegas: Empty Lot
John Hill
15. October 2015
Photo: Screenshot
The inaugural Hyundai Commission for the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall is Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas's Empty Lot, which consists of 240 triangular planters filled with soil collected from parks and gardens across London.
The planters are propped upon scaffolding and surrounding by lamps in a large triangular footprint within the huge hall, an integral part of Herzog & de Meuron's transformation of the power station into a museum in 2000. Cruzvillegas did not plant anything into the soil. Rather, over the course of the piece's six-month duration things may grow depending on what was already in the soil. Therefore the piece will become a concentration of London's dispersed cityscape and its composition of parks, hopefully with a much different appearance over time.
A short film from Vernissage TV gives a visual peek at Empty Lot as installed, and a longer film from the Tate shows the making of the piece alongside commentary from the artist.
Empty Lot is on display from 13 October 2015 to 3 April 2016.