But What do I Know … ?

I was reminded by a discussion on a friend’s blog about art that I’ve seen and my reaction to it.

I have to comment on a piece I saw at the Tate Modern recently (the only time I’ve been in) - My first reaction was, ‘I’ve seen that!’. I had last seen something like it at work, in the Met police forensic lab, as a display: evidence preserved from a crime scene. The particular piece was an artwork with a background of wallpaper, splattered with blood-red paint.

I realise what the artist was after, but I wonder how many would have the reaction that I did, the shock of seeing a crime scene in a frame in an art gallery. I don’t know how many people visiting the Tate Modern would have seen enough crime scenes to recognise that a death was being depicted.

It might well be an old piece. How many people nowadays would recognise it from the intro scene from a CSI episode? (I realise that TV shows don’t show graphic gore, people fill in with their imaginations). And yet it is a death, there on the wall, as an artwork.

Make of that what you will.