Ruins in Reverse

 'questions the distinction between historical monuments and urban ruins'


Project Space Tate Modern until 24 June 2013

 I got thinking about the question of value and the passing of time. Does something become a ruin when it ceases to be occupied? A ruin implies the passing of time. I would not use the word 'ruin alongside 'urban' as I regard urban  to be a modern word. To me a ruin would be a building that has not been used for 500 years. And a monument is something that is preserved or reinstated and kept guarded as part of our culture.  But perhaps it is time to reach for the dictionary......

The work of Jose Carlos Martinat really caught my attention. It is called 'Pintas' and made of resin, fibreglass and concrete residue.

The exhibition information stated: 'Jose Carlos Martinat presents Pintas 2013, a maze of resin skins, peeled from Lima's city walls, highlighting the contrast between graffiti's original setting and the museum space. His act unsettles its original social and political context but also potentially monumentalises its messages'.

The pictures I have taken are of Pintas as seen from the outside of the exhibition space and I like the way it interplays with the reflections.

The scale of these works is great  and they look like massive sheets of paper, skins or cloth. Taking something out of its original context is most interesting and is similar to what I am doing with my ongoing 'trace' process where I am selecting newspaper headlines and tracing them onto a scroll.

This texture and colour is great.

I am thinking how to incorporate texture and colour into my bookworks. These works have influence my most recent bookwork along with Gerhard Richter's Cage Paintings on level 3 in the 'Transformed Visions' collection at Tate Modern.