Performing for the Camera | Tate - failed essay exhibition

The Performing for the Camera | Tate

is what I would call an Essay Exhibition. it is about the relationship of Photography and Performance, but it is far too wide a subject to do justice to intellectually. Artistically, I just found the subject matter not interesting enough. As an essay its not very interesting, as an exhibition its not very interesting.



The title can emcompass anything where a photograph has a performative element OR where it documents a performance, that encompasses the whole history of Theatre, Cinema, Dance not to mention every other art and craft.  So it has no intellectual coherence. As such it has not much to teach us. And the choice of objects is not that exciting- I think they know that,  because there are a large number of pictures of naked women in the Exhibition. Looking at it you would think that 25% of all performances entail a woman taking her clothes off.  So there are far too many naked women unless naked women is one of the main themes - which it isn't.  I enjoyed the naked women and Yyes Klein diving onto concrete but that was about it.





At the end of the exhibition there are 2 rooms of self-portraits - and advertising material. Why?  Because a -self-portrait has an element of performance in it. Yes, but then why not do an exhibition of self-portraits?    It is an exhibition without a proper focus.


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