The Unilever Series: Juan Muñoz

Introduction | Biography | Statement | More Photos

12 June 2001 - 10 March 2002
Admission free

Juan Muñoz, Double Bind, 2001
Photo credit: Marcus Leith

The second commission in The Unilever Series, created for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, was completed by the Spanish artist Juan Muñoz and opened to the public on 12 June. Muñoz created a new installation that dramatically alters the 155 metres long x 35 metres high (500 x 115 feet) space. The work presents the viewer with a series of intriguing scenarios, which play on perspective and illusion, visibility and invisibility.

Titled Double Bind, the installation is divided into two parts. On the upper, bridge level of the Turbine Hall, the visitor sees, beyond a balcony rail, a patterned floor, through which two elevators rise and descend, locked in perpetual motion. The floor appears to be pierced with a series of large black holes or shafts, some of which are illusions.

Below, the atmosphere darkens. Pools of light fall from the shafts, while the elevators glide into the subterranean gloom. Moving further into the lower space, it becomes apparent that the shafts above are inhabited by a cast of sculpted figures. Their expressions and actions remain unclear, as does our own role in their private drama.

Juan Muñoz is renowned for sculptural works in which he situates the human figure within elaborate or complex architectural settings. These are created using elements such as patterned floors, staircases and balconies. Then, by a highly considered placement of the figures, Muñoz entices the viewer into an engagement with the implied dramas unravelling within. The architectural features, such as the shafts and the balcony in Double Bind, also serve as metaphors, particularly the balcony which, in Muñoz's art, operates as a form of threshold, between spectator and performer, past and future, and subject and object.

The first commission in The Unilever Series was undertaken by Louise Bourgeois and was displayed in the Turbine Hall for the opening in 2000. Unilever's support, totalling £1.25 million, will allow Tate Modern to commission a new large-scale work for the Turbine Hall each year until 2004.

A beautifully illustrated book (paperback price £16.99) accompanies the exhibition. The book describes the evolution of Double Bind with a visual essay by the artist, and includes texts by Susan May and James Lingwood, along with stunning photographs of the installation. The book is available from the online shop.

Find out more:

• View panoramic images of Double Bind on the Unilever website.
• To view the web exhibition for the Unilever International Schools Art Project 2001 visit www.unileverseries.com or see the project on display in the Clore Education Centre at Tate Modern from 7 - 16 December 2001.

The Unilever Series: an annual art commission sponsored by Unilever