Tate Modern's Balls
The latest insanity from Tate Modern is that it's forked out £152,000 on a round Mexican billiard table with no pockets: Carambole with Pendulum (1996) by Gabriel Orozco. "The shape and lack of pockets deny the traditional function of a games table while drawing attention to its visual qualities," waffled the Tate! There's a mug born every minute. Get off your high horse, Tate, and admit you've been snookered.
posted by Unknown @ 21.9.07
4 comments
4 Comments:
This and the rectangular version with no pockets are quite legitimate tables. They are used to play cushion billiards where the object of the game is to play the cannon shot via at least one bounce off the cushion. Excellent practice for learning angles and how to position the cue ball for that other more popular game!
But £152K?? Art?? Now if you get to see a real expert at this game, and can appreciate the difficulty, that could be considered performance art.
I rather fancy the idea of mice on miniature motorcycles using it as Wembley Arena. Now that really would be performance art!
Yeah, I saw tables with no holes in Turkey. I didn't learn how to use them, but the people on them seemed to be having just as much fun as the people on the tables with holes.
It is a little pricey for a table though, especially if theyre not going to let visitors use it!
Et tu, Brutus.
I thought weggis was pulling my leg about billiard tables with no pockets.
My main quibble is that good, traditional craftsmanship is being raised to the level of art by people who have probably never doodled with a pencil, let alone know anything about art. It's like putting a stonemason on the same level as Michelangelo.
As for price, I'd like to know how much a traditional craftsman-made billiard table in mahogany with machine-turned round legs, a perfect sheet of slate, leather and brass trimmings and all the rest would cost today. I'm sure it's thousands of pounds.
But £152,000 for a piece of craftsmanship that's pretending to be art is downright silly.
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