Join Paul Bartlett for a BSL tour of Tate Modern's suspended sculputres by Richard Tuttle, Joseph Beuys and Alexander Calder.
Richard Tuttle: I Don’t Know . The Weave of Textile Language is Tate Modern's new Turbine Hall installation by American artist Richard Tuttle. A giant sculpture combining Indian fabrics, a plywood frame and memories of the Vietnam War, which measures 24 metres long and 12 metres high hanging from the Turbine Hall ceiling. This sculpture links to the Whitechapel Art Gallery's current Tuttle exhibition.
The American sculptor and draughtsman Alexander Calder was the pioneer of mobiles. Mobile c.1932 continually redefines the space around as it as it moves – and is an example of how Calder revolutionised sculpture. A major solo exhibition of Calder's work, entitled Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture will be at Tate Modern in 2015.
Joseph Beuys's Lightning with Stag in its Glare (1958–85) on Level 2 West Poetry and Dream Room 6 is built into the architecture of the building, as the horizontal girder holding the wedge up rests on the floor level of the gallery above. To accommodate the size of this work, Room 6 is a double height gallery. The sculpture was installed 14 years ago and the gallery walls were built around it. It is a loaned work and when the loan ends the walls of the gallery will have to be knocked down in order to get it out.