Tate Modern Review ‘Energy and Process’ WEEK 4 DAY 2

The Modern Tate, having a variety of different themed exhibition rooms, is highly visited today. ‘Energy and Process’ by curators Mark Godfrey and Helen Sainsbury is a room which focuses on sculpture and architecture through nature. This room partakes in the reconstruction of nature through Penone’s 12 meter sculpted trees and the recreation of Lynda Benglis’s ‘Quartered Meteor’.

Fig 1 : Tree of 12 metres (1980-2) Guiseppe Penone

Fig 2 : Quartered Meteor  (1969) Lynda Benglis

This exhibition contained work by different artists whose work involves the theme of nature.
The layout of each piece contrasts with the modernity of the Tate since all of these objects have something to do with nature and are placed in a completely white room. Each piece is laid out spaciously, which is good because the audience can view each piece individually. However I did find it quite confusing trying to link the name of each piece with the actual artwork as the signs weren’t placed clearly.  The exhibition was extremely interesting, and while walking around this room I never knew what to expect next.

Fig 3: The Ren-Shiki- Tai (1973) Kishio Suga

Fig  4:  Terracotta Circle (1969) Gilberto Zorlo


I found this room layout extremely eye-catching and it physically made me feel small because the artwork was on a large three-dimensional scale. Psychologically I felt that this work brought me back in time because of the use of basic materials such as rocks, trees, wood and string; it was as if the room brought me back to a prehistoric time or into a forest. This exhibition being placed in London and especially in the Modern Tate creates a real contrast for the spectator. I left with the message that nature can be reconstructed to both look like and feel like a natural object. 

Fig 5 :  Godret Stone (1958) Seung-Taek Lee

Fig 6: Untitled (1967) Robert Morris

Bibliography :

-  Tree of 12 metres (1980-2) Guiseppe Penone

- Quartered Meteor  (1969) Lynda Benglis
- The Ren-Shiki- Tai (1973) Kishio Suga

 -Terracotta Circle (1969) Gilberto Zorlo

-  Godret Stone (1958) Seung-Taek Lee

- Untitled (1967) Robert Morris