** My take on The White Cube **

I found this lecture very interesting because when I usually visit galleries (mostly in London) I don’t really focus on the space and if I do, I usually am intrigued by the interior/exterior architecture.

I’ve never focused as much on the way the art is placed; I obviously notice if a sculpture is on the floor or if a instillation was to take over a whole section of the gallery and the effect it would have on viewers but, now when I enter a gallery/exhibition and take in the composition, how the art in one section compliment each other (if they do or don’t), how they’re closed off to each other, the walk to the next show, whether they take advantage of the walls and white space, how the art works in the space before I start to analyse each individual piece.

Different location of the White Cube:

  • White Cube, Mason Yard London
  • White Cute Gallery, Hong Kong
  • White Cube Bermondsey
  • Yann Serandour Inside The White Cube

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

I love the fact Marcel Duchamp was brave enough to approach the white cube with a different attitude, this has merged into our society today and many artists display their work with different mentalities one of them being; that the actual white cube is their canvas ! Another way he’s explored this field is by his installation called “Grotto”. Which is a piece with bags of coal hung on the ceiling which I think is amazing because this was new stuff and changing the perspective from eye level, to having to tilt/lift you head and look at the ceiling is just amazing because the focus is the position of the piece rather then the actual art.

marcel duchamp ceiling bags

marcel duchamp string cube

Marcel Duchamp played around with changing with the system of how painting are viewed and also can be viewed. By having the string physical stop people from trespassing i think it makes the space very interesting, because the viewers would need to focus harder on a particular painting to identify what it really is and it also restricts them from viewing details.

  • All contemporary spaces are white. Why ?
  • What effect does it have?