The Coral Reef

A few weeks ago I went to The Tate Britain, which is the national gallery for British art. Having it the first time I’ve been there, it seemed like just another museum to me, paintings on the walls, different collages, sculptures and other typical artwork you would see. The Tate holds collections of famous paintings and different kinds of installations. The Tate Britain is a very formal museum, you see people walking around quietly, observing and educating themselves about the work the artist have presented.  The exhibition “The Coral Reef” by Mike Nelson installation is far different than the other displays in the Tate. This display at the Tate Britain encompasses doors, passageways, Rooms and signs of occupation but also decaying. When you first enter you’re hesitant to open that first door. When you enter you’re confused on how to approach the exhibit, should you be worried about people popping out and scaring you? Can you interact with the objects around you? Or should you just pop your head in and move on to the next door? There were many different ways people took in the experience of the exhibition. Many would take a glimpse of each room and walk to the next, others such as a group of high school students would play hide and seek pretending it was a haunted house. We were dropped into this maze without any warning, no maps, no labels of each room, most of all no indication that anything in the rooms does or ought to mean something. According to Nelson, he wanted the viewers to feel “lost in a world of lost people.” When going in you could see people trying to find something when in reality art was right in front of them, other just assumed they were lost so in panic their only goal is to find their way out. As for me I went through all the doors and tried to figure out what the artist was trying to say because I knew I might as well enjoy the experience until the way out presents itself.