Insurance Law

Coming Soon to the Albert Hall . . .

By George Wallace

More DANGEROUS ART!

Item 1:

From New York Magazine, a description of You by Urs Fischer, now on view in Manhattan at Gavin Brown's enterprise gallery:

A 38-foot-by-30-foot crater, eight feet deep, extends almost to the walls of the gallery, surrounded by a fourteen-inch ledge of concrete floor.  A sign at the door cautions, THE INSTALLATION IS PHYSICALLY DANGEROUS AND INHERENTLY INVOLVES THE RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH; intrepid viewers can, all the same, inch their way around the hole.

Item 2:

Apropos of yesterday's post on Tate Modern's cracking Shibboleth, some thoughts from the weblog of New York gallery owner Edward Winkleman:

Twice in our gallery's history we've exhibited work that, if the viewer were unfortunate or not careful, they might have hurt themselves on.  Once the situation was easy enough to handle (a warning on the door), but the other time, the work was interactive and no matter how explicit our warnings, folks still seemed to find a way to interact in a dangerous manner.  It became a running joke...the increasingly alarming notices...leading us to ponder whether "Do Not Under Any Circumstances Even Consider Moving or Breathing While Interacting With This Art" would do the trick.

I came away from that experience realizing that some work is simply too dangerous to let the public interact with without strict supervision.  With this lesson under my belt, then, I was a bit surprised to see the openness with which visitors were able to roam the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern . . . .  I mean, I get it conceptually, just not liability-wise.

Conclusion:

Brings a [w]hole new meaning to the phrase "Fall Art Season," eh?

~~~

New York link via 3quarksdaily.  Winkleman link via The Art Law Blog.

Full post as published by Declarations and Exclusions on November 28, 2007 (boomark / email).