Shibboleth

The great crack that has the art world a buzz in London and beyond does not belong to some builder who forgot his belt, but rather Doris Salcedo. At Tate Modern you can experience her unnerving chasm (3' at it's deepest and possibly 6" at it's widest) travel the entire length of the Turbine Hall. As people enter they are handed the relevant flyer, warning side up. we are talking about a big crack in the very foundation of a very old industrial revolution building. People reach out for the flyer, but are already being pulled by some unkown force. Salcedo's Shibboleth has gravity, it has charisma, everyone wants to get up close and touch it. It;s like some amusement ride, appealing to all ages and walks of life. The yougsters want to climb into it and explore, while those of more years are concerned with it's construction. Just like everyone else I was fascinated, but it wasn't until I crossed it that I felt its power. There was something that made me feel vunerable and alone, as if seperated from everything I knew and understood. Then I noticed that although people were crossing back and forth, for the most part they walked on one side of the divide. Even though this is a crack in the ground it became a wall of sorts. I thought of all the walls that have been constructed all over the world to seperate people and of the blue wall in this city that surrounds the 2012 Olympics site. I considered the surrounding neihbourhoods and how they will change, how people will have to make a choice and how when the physical wall will be removed, an invisible wall will remain. These walls are said to be erected to keep us safe, but instead they stop us from communicating and keep our differences in sight. The 2012 games are being marketed as the games of the people and yet it's presence has already displaced so many. Whilst sitting on the floor in the Turbine Hall writing this evryone in this mecca that is London was represented. What an amazing gift Salcedo has given us.