State of the Arts

Imagine a shipping container, cloaked in midnight black. You enter the void; it’s pitch dark. As you proceed inside, it gets progressively more oppressive. You can’t even see your hands in front of you and you’re relying on your heightened senses to make it through to the end.

I’ll be honest. I turned back at the midway point. exhibition at the Tate Modern, London. To date, I still get chills when I relive the experience. I can feel those cold, clammy hands of fear gripping me, that visceral emotion of plunging into the unknown, eyes blindfolded. The lack of light overpowered my senses and sensations, and it brought back repressed childhood memories of being scared of the dark. It was a seminal moment, as it would shape my perception of what art is, and what art should be.