Mike Nelson - Coral Reef

Mike Nelson: The Coral Reef, 1999, installation view;

image courtesy  of the Artist and Matt’s Gallery, London, Collection of the Tate.

On a recent trip to London, I went to visit Mike Nelson's Coral Reef recently acquired by Tate Collections and installed at Tate Britain until January 15th. This work was made in 1999 for Matt's Gallery in London, at the very end of the 20th Century but before events which have come to define current times; 9/11, 7/7 and the economic crash of 2008 in particular. In the light of our recent history this claustrophobic, disorientating piece has extraordinary resonances.

Entering the work through a grubby reception room, you begin your journey into a complex series of rooms and corridors. Each room has its own character - all are shabby, depressed, clues are scattered throughout to tempt us to construct a narrative for ourselves. The title, Coral Reef reflects Nelson's concept of a fragile structure which exists under a metaphorical ocean surface, in which "...in a sense each room is indicative of a different belief system". We are "...invited to become lost in this world of lost people" and that is exactly what the experience achieved for me.

Under electric light, the structure doubles back on itself, the spaces are tight and only just big enough to occupy. A sense of panic rises even though this is obviously a work of art, installed in a gallery - one cannot actually come to harm or get forever lost in the maze - the fiction is powerful enough to suspend the rational just enough to allow the anxiety to emerge. You can hear others elsewhere in the structure, doors are opening and closing, squeaking on their hinges, it could be reassuring but it also increases the panic. The residual evidence of characters living out their days, conducting their business and worshiping at their own particular alter in these uncared for spaces is disturbing, familiar and loaded with prophetic tension.  In a carefully constructed, paranoia educing twist we are led to believe we have reached the room through which we entered only to find the exit leads us into a loading bay, its shutters down - we have no choice but to turn and retrace our steps. 

It is a remarkable experience, here is Mike Nelson talking about the work and its contemporary significance.

Mike Nelson in Venice

One of the things I was really looking forward to at The Venice Biennale was the opportunity to see the work made for The British Pavilion by installation artist, Mike Nelson,  I, Impostor. I queued for an hour and a half as only a few people are allowed in at a time, luckily it was well worth the wait. Nelson has gone to work on the classic interior of the pavilion with incredible attention to detail to alter the building beyond recognition. 

Nelson has taken as his starting point a piece of work he undertook in 2003 for the Istanbul Biennale, The current work re-imagines the former piece and reconstructs it using salvaged materials from the original site and from Venice. He makes parallels between the history and trade function of the two locations. 

It took him and a small team three months to construct the installation. He has created a dark and sleazy interior, a backstreet workshop in a Turkish city. He sets up the space with claustrophobic rooms, stairs and corridors. The first room suggests a workshop perhaps repairing crystal chandeliers...this could just be a front though; as you venture further it starts to feel less legitimate. Dingy, dirty...someone lives here or at least sleeps here. Upstairs there is a workshop strewn with tools, a portable TV hisses white noise, detuned. Corners are stacked with junk machinery and salvaged scrap. 

A darkroom glows red, a forest of developed photographs hang on washing lines drying in the roof. You can smell the chemicals -it feels obsessive...why all these images, why so many? What is being sought or being recorded? Who is the imposter ofthe work's title? This is at the core of Nelson's work - he sets us up with a living, breathing space and invites us to imagine what has happened or what might happen there, we create our own story. His meticulous attention to detail right down to the fixtures and fittings helps us suspend our disbelief. He makes copious reference to films and books to help us recognise the language of suspense and the building narrative.

Mike Nelson

Mike Nelson - Quiver of Arrows - seen here


Mike Nelson - To the Memory of H.P. Lovecraft - seen here

I'm quite excited by the choice of Mike Nelson to represent Britain at the 2011 Venice Biennale, it feels just right to me. The Guardian published a nice series of photos today. One of my favourite exhibitions of recent years was Psycho Buildings at the Hayward Gallery in 2008; Mike Nelson's contribution, To the Memory of H.P. Lovecraft was amazing. An empty room recently wrecked by...what? That's the fun of the piece, you're left to imagine the narrative. Nelson has been nominated twice for the Turner Prize and here's a Tate video about him.