Post modernism is dead

Just got back from the Altermodern Tate Triennial exhibition. As I said I would I went in with an open mind with the hope of seeing some inspiring work that would be relevant to me and my work in some way. I guess the first thing that hit me when I picked up the guide was the sheer size of the exhibition, I didn't realise there was going to be just so much. The first thing I saw when I went in was Bob and roberta Smith's collection of ongoing pieces. They reminded me of Peter Blake and had a kind of nostalgic quality that appealed to me in some way. From here I began to follow the map around the various rooms, getting lost in the endless pieces of artwork and slowly building up an idea of what 'altermodern' is actually supposed to mean. According to the curator, it is a proposed idea that post modernism is dead, and that these artists all have a common goal of determining our place, or role, in this new culture of globalisation, what with immigration, modern technology/communication and all that. Pretty heavy stuff.

I guess in some ways the exhibition achieves this, I got the sense of wandering through different cultures and time periods, and I think it was this idea that I liked. It was hard to really engage with a lot of the pieces though, especially the videos, since it was so extensive.. After a while I felt like I'd taken too much in. For me, the artists that stood out were Rachel Harrison, Gustav Metzger, Darren Almond, Katie Paterson, Bob and Roberta Smith, and Shezad Dawood.