For those not keen on the cold weather, Tate Online, sponsored by BT, launches two new online art projects over the coming months, which can be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home.
Following the success of online projects exploring contemporary works in the Tate Collection and involving British artists such as Damien Hirst and Cornelia Parker, Tate Online is set to launch more in-focus displays. These mini-websites expand Tate’s e-learning resource and present more in-depth information, giving different points of view and providing activities for schools and teachers both on and offline. These displays are part of a series unique to
Tate Online and aim to establish tate.org.uk as Tate’s fifth gallery.
Sonia Boyce, From Tarzan to Rambo
From 29 November
The display takes as its starting point the work From Tarzan to Rambo: English Born ‘Native’ Considers her Relationship to the Constructed/Self Image and her Roots in Reconstruction (1987) by Sonia Boyce (b. 1962), in which the artist explores her own sense of self in relation to media images of blackness and whiteness. Tarzan and Rambo are cited as examples of Hollywood’s portrayal of white men who, pitched into alien natural environments, rise to supremacy over their surroundings, as if by virtue of the inherent superiority of their colour. The online project builds on the display in the History/Memory/Society suite at Tate Modern and provides more detailed information, including audio extracts of the artist talking about her work and a text by the journalist and critic Ekow Eshun, and offers activities for schools and teachers.
The display and online project examine representations of race and colour and what they reveal about cultural stereotyping. The display includes specially-loaned work by Sutapa Biswas, Zoe Leonard and Anna Fox, with videos by Anthea Hamilton and Harold Offeh.
Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896), Ophelia
From 31 January 2003
This mini-site is the first to focus on an historic work in the Tate Collection and appropriately explores one of the most popular works in the Collection - Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896). The work is on display at Tate Britain in the room Making British History.
Posing questions such as how and where did Millais paint Ophelia?; how do we know?; where has the painting travelled in the past?; what condition is it in and what can we see under the frame?, this mini-site answers all the questions you’ve ever wanted to know about this painting. In addition the site provides extracts from Millais’ diaries and letters and a number of quizzes.