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All Tate Reports Tate Report 06/07

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  • Mark Wallinger b1959
  • Sleeper 2004
  • (Single screen) projection, mini DV transfered to DVD, silent. Duration 154 min. Number of 3 of an edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof.
  • Overall display dimensions variable
  • Presented by Tate Members 2006
  • Tate courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery © The artist
  • T11982
  • View work within Tate Collection
Mark Wallinger

© The artist

In 2004 Mark Wallinger spent several hours over nine consecutive nights in the upper galleries of Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie, dressed in a faux-fur bear suit. Sleeper comprises unedited footage filmed on one of these nights and shows the artist disconsolately pacing the floors, gazing at onlookers through the glass walls, slumping on the floor and sometimes disappearing from view. In much of his work Wallinger interrogates contemporary society's traditions and values, ranging from the British class system to religious institutions. His portrayal of the bear, Berlin's heraldic symbol, as a tragicomic figure aimlessly wandering in this classically modernist space, is a subtle allusion to nature, culture and politics, as well as the generally alienating nature of contemporary society.

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