Susan Hiller's Tate Britain exhibition is dismal
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A young woman came out of Susan Hiller's exhibition yesterday and told me that she had been asked to write a review of this show and was concerned that she had absolutely nothing good to say about it. She ranted: "I can't believe this is the best art Britan has to offer". I wasn't sure what to say.I'm not a fan of Hiller or her work. And I wonder what sort of people do actually like her (other than her relatives and a few Time Out critics). Brian Sewell wrote his standard "it's not real art" review and I found myself agreeing with him on most points - it's always a bit depressing to find yourself agreeing with Brian.
I thought her film about towns and places in Germany that have the word "Jude" in them was nearly interesting. When the composer John Barry died someone said that it was because his music came from his heart that it touched so many other people's heart. Hiller's German film didn't really feel it was from her heart but it was at least on the cusp of being interesting and slightly worthwhile. A typical Hiler project is "enquiries/inquiries". The title of the work is put in neon letters above a video (It looks bad). There is a blurb explaining what the piece is about. There is a video that shows a page from an old English dictionary and a page from an old American dictionary. You can sit and read various "Call My Bluff" type facts about where certain words come from. For a few seconds it's almost mildly interesting/enjoyable but it so quickly becomes boring and annoyingly dull.
If all her work was destroyed in a fire it wouldn't mean a thing because nothing she has ever done is vital or of any value. If you go and see a Chris Ofilli show you might find yourself thinking "Well, I don't like all of this but this is at least a voice I don't hear that often and that needs to be heard". With Hiller I feel - "yeah, we know that. maybe a decent artist could have used that as a starting point and made an interesting art work out it. But Hiller can't".
She's stuck around for many years, taken herself far too seriously and has been given lots of funding but she has delivered nothing. Seeing her show was a shocking waste of my valuable time. My hope is that she stops trying to be an artist and spends the rest of her life doing something that's of use to people. Maybe she could buy a van and take kids with special needs to the seaside at weekends? Or maybe she could just get clear up after dogs in her local park? It costs £10 to see her show but it's not even worth 10p. STAY AWAY
I thought her film about towns and places in Germany that have the word "Jude" in them was nearly interesting. When the composer John Barry died someone said that it was because his music came from his heart that it touched so many other people's heart. Hiller's German film didn't really feel it was from her heart but it was at least on the cusp of being interesting and slightly worthwhile. A typical Hiler project is "enquiries/inquiries". The title of the work is put in neon letters above a video (It looks bad). There is a blurb explaining what the piece is about. There is a video that shows a page from an old English dictionary and a page from an old American dictionary. You can sit and read various "Call My Bluff" type facts about where certain words come from. For a few seconds it's almost mildly interesting/enjoyable but it so quickly becomes boring and annoyingly dull.
If all her work was destroyed in a fire it wouldn't mean a thing because nothing she has ever done is vital or of any value. If you go and see a Chris Ofilli show you might find yourself thinking "Well, I don't like all of this but this is at least a voice I don't hear that often and that needs to be heard". With Hiller I feel - "yeah, we know that. maybe a decent artist could have used that as a starting point and made an interesting art work out it. But Hiller can't".
She's stuck around for many years, taken herself far too seriously and has been given lots of funding but she has delivered nothing. Seeing her show was a shocking waste of my valuable time. My hope is that she stops trying to be an artist and spends the rest of her life doing something that's of use to people. Maybe she could buy a van and take kids with special needs to the seaside at weekends? Or maybe she could just get clear up after dogs in her local park? It costs £10 to see her show but it's not even worth 10p. STAY AWAY