London | ArtRegion:

Tate Modern

The Tanks: Art in Action

A fifteen-week festival from 18 July – 28 October 2012

18. Juli – 28. Oktober 2012

A new commission by Korean artist Sung Hwan Kim was unveiled today in The Tanks at Tate Modern. This major new work is the first installation to be created especially in The Tanks, the world’s first museum galleries permanently dedicated to exhibiting live art, performance, installation and film works. In Kim’s work, visitors are plunged into a fantastical world of optical illusions that draws on a rich history of performance and film. The commission for the Maja Hoffmann/Luma Foundation Tank is supported by Sotheby’s and runs from 18 July to 28 October. The launch is part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad.

The Tanks are the first phase of the Tate Modern Project, which is being made possible by a number of significant donations from public funders and foundations including a £50m investment from the Government, £7m from the Greater London Authority, an importantdonation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and generous gifts from The Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation and The Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation.

Art in Action, a fifteen-week festival celebrating performance, film and installation and the historical works that have shaped these art forms, will run in The Tanks until 28 October. The festival allows audiences to explore new developments in art practice and learning, see bold new work being developed by artists, and engage more deeply with the programme. The Tanks are raw, industrial spaces which provide an anchor and home for the live art and film programmes which have previously been presented indiverse spaces around Tate Modern.

A rolling series of projects will take place in the southern Tank addressing the history of performance, film and interdisciplinary work alongside new work. The renowned choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker has worked with visual artist Ann Veronica Janssens to adapt Fase: Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich 1982 to be the first performance staged in The Tanks. Two recent acquisitions to Tate’s collection also go on display for the first time: Suzanne Lacy’s The Crystal Quilt 1985-87 and Lis Rhodes’ Light Music 1975. From the 16th to the 27th August The Tanks will also host Undercurrent, a programme specially created by and for young people involving sound, performance, film and the digital. In addition to three major symposia, Art in Action will include interventions and participatory events for visitors of all ages. The opening programme is supported by The Tanks Supporters Group.

Over 40 established and emerging artists from around the world are taking part inArt in Action, including Ei Arakawa (Japan), Jelili Atiku (Nigeria), Nina Beier (Denmark), Tania Bruguera (Cuba), Boris Charmatz (France), Keren Cytter (Israel), Tina Keane (UK), Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (Belgium), Liu Ding (China), Jeff Keen (UK), Anthea Hamilton (UK), Sung Hwan Kim (Korea), Rabih Mroué (Lebanon), Eddie Peake (UK), Yvonne Rainer (US), Lis Rhodes (UK), Aura Satz (UK), Patrick Staff (UK), Aldo Tambellini (US), Kerry Tribe (US) and Haegue Yang (Korea).