Artist takes a crack at Tate Modern

1/2

It is a giant gash across the floor of Tate Modern - or so it seems.

Colombian artist Doris Salcedo has sent what looks like a bolt of lightning more than 500 feet across the floor of the Turbine Hall.

The work is the first in the Unilever series of commissions inaugurated with the gallery in 2000 to interfere with the building itself.

The artist aims to draw attention to racism and the divisions in society. "Its appearance disturbs the Turbine Hall in the same way the appearance of immigrants disturbs the consensus and homogeneity of European societies," she said.

The work, entitled Shibboleth, is the eighth in a series that has been some of the most popular public artworks ever seen in London.

Olafur Eliasson drew giant crowds when he presented his giant sun installation, Weather Project, in 2003 and thousands enjoyed Carsten Holler's slides last year.

Other artists to have filled the hall include Rachel Whiteread and Anish Kapoor.

Doris Salcedo normally declines to explain her working methods but a gallery spokeswoman suggested today that the latest installation was something of an optical illusion. "It has the appearance as if the whole floor has opened up."

It begins as a hairline crack at the west entrance and widens and deepens as it runs the length of the building. Wire mesh, used to define borders, is embedded within the opening.

Shibboleth opens to the public tomorrow and is on display until 6 April 2008.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in