WENDY WEITMAN: The British artist Tacita Dean is primarily a filmmaker, interested in issues of time and memory—particularly in the idea of fragmenting time.
In this very romantic image, she positions the viewer looking out towards the water over a rocky coastline, as if pining for a lost loved one. She scribbles words in white – stage directions, almost – over her images. Here, at the top left, are the letters T&I, the title of the work, which stands for the legend of the lovers Tristan and Isolde. Dean is also fascinated by a true and tragic story about a man named Donald Crowhurst, who attempted to go around the world in a solo yacht race, and never returned. In much of her work, Dean fuses fiction and fact – here, possibly, the medieval story of Tristan, who does get rescued, with the tragic story of this man who never came back. The twenty-five separate frames that make up this piece create a fragmented, narrative – almost cinematic in effect as well.
DEBBY WYE: This work was made in a very traditional technique called photogravure, which combines photography and etching. It gives photographic subject matter a lush surface.
WENDY WEITMAN: One section of this exhibition is in the galleries to your left. You’ll find another section called “British Focus” in the 2nd floor Print Galleries. Its entrance is also identified by Peter Kogler’s ant wallpaper too.