To mark the opening of his new exhibition at Tate Modern, Wolfgang Tillmans will transform the gallery’s subterranean South tank into a unique sound and light installation. Slowly evolving from 3 March to 12 March 2017, this immersive experience will bring together music, lights, field recordings and video activated by a series of free music events on 3, 5, 8, 10 and 11 March.
The installation, entitled South Tank in reference to its unique industrial setting, reflects the focus of Tate Modern’s exhibition on Tillmans’s increasingly expanded practice, including his collaborations with other creative figures and his work with video, music and performance. South Tank invites visitors to come and go at any point during the installation, offering an immersive environment where the artist’s music and video works are presented alongside audio field recordings gathered over the past decade. Lights and light sources are also central to the project, and have often featured in much of the artist’s photography.
Just as Tillmans has taken a renewed interested in music as a means of expressing his ideas, he has also become increasingly conscious of the importance of collaboration. South Tank is the result and celebration of work with numerous artists including LA based Wreck & Reference, Cologne’s Thomas Brinkmann, London’s Throwing Shade as well as Othon, Lori E. Allen, and Tillmans’s ongoing musical partners Tim Knapp, Jay Pluck and Juan Pablo Echeverri. Five scheduled live events by Tillmans, his collaborators, and artists that he admires will take place as part of the project, as well as ad-hoc appearances throughout the project’s duration.
The installation is free to visit during gallery opening hours, from 10.00 to 18.00 daily and until 22.00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Evening performances from 20.00 on 3, 8, 10 and 11 March are free with visitors encouraged to arrive early to ensure entry.
PROGRAMME OF LIVE EVENTS
Fri 3 Mar, 20.00: FRAGILE: Wolfgang Tillmans, Tim Knapp and Jay Pluck
Sun 5 Mar, 13.30-17.30: The 30 tracks that make ‘It’s a Sin’ by Pet Shop Boys
Wed 8 Mar, 20.00: Lori E. Allen, Thomas Brinkmann
Fri 10 Mar, 20.00: Othon featuring Wolfgang Tillmans
Sat 11 Mar, 20.00: Throwing Shade, Wreck & Reference