Steve McQueen

I know it might sound strange, but sometimes … I go outside the studio. Like, I do leave the building occasionally. So on the FIRST SUNNY SUNDAY IN FOREVER, I went to a museum because why going to the park and enjoying the sun. I wanted to go see Steve Mcqueen’s exhibition at Tate Modern. So here’s a short review of it and some cool photos I took (illegally). 

Western Deep 

The film shows a fragment from the life of the minors working in the deepest gold mines in the world – Tautona Mines in the Witwatersrand Reef near Johannesburg, South Africa. Going on the lift, the minors embark on what is seems an endless journey under the ground. The darkness of the tunnel juxtaposed brilliantly with intense noises creates the feeling that this is a journey to hell. The only source of light comes from the lantern of their helmets, so the only thing the audience can see is the sweat on their faces and the hopelessness in their eyes. An image of trapped souls in a black pit, which reminded me of Plato’s allegory of the cave. Back in the real world, we see the minors with thermometers in their mouths, being tested like animals used in an experiment. Repeating the same exercise over and over again, the spectator gets the feeling of a timeless existing, a life deprived of meaning or purpose. In the last shot, as the camera moves back we see that “the experiment” is being monitored through a screen. Someone else is observing the “animals” and writing down their results. I see the monitors as the idea of the “peephole” and objectification – the participants are no longer human, they are reduced to objects of the research, a tool in the mines. 

 I loved the way Mcqueen used colors in different environments. The pale tones of the shots in what it seemed like a hospital and the contrast blue shorts of the minors create the atmosphere of a hostile environment, even the red light is not a source of warmth, but rather a symbol of their helplessness. 

Finally, I was most impressed by the role of sound in the film. The loud, almost unbearable noises in the mines followed by silent pauses, conveyed the message of the struggle to survive in an extreme environment, the helplessness and the fear of an upcoming danger. It reminded me of the Chernobyl series, the moment they knew that we’re unable to stop the catastrophe from spreading. The absence of sound made the scenes seem endless, a feeling of lingering. 

“To say that Steve McQueen’s new film, Western Deep, is a staggering achievement barely does it justice…. It is one of the most physically powerful pieces of film-making I’ve ever experienced.”

– Sukhdev Sandhu, The Daily Telegraph, 15 October 2002.

Ashes

 “Ashes” is a video installation of two short films played simultaneously? The first video is footage from 2002 shot on Super 8 by the Dutch cinematographer Robby Muller. A young man, probably around 18 years old, sitting on the deck of a bright orange boat, carelessly playing with the camera, going through the sea on a hot sunny day. A seemingly idealistic image of the beauty of youth. A man starts talking in the background. A discussion of the unfortunate death of Ashes. Killed by a drug dealer for discovering a stash of drugs. 

On the opposite side of the screen, you see the making of his grave. The engraving of the stone, the memorial plaque for the grave. Shot in 2013 on 16mm film, the video shows the calm, peaceful process of “the departure”. 

A contrast between life and death. The bright, vibrant image of the boy enjoying life next to the old men carefully engraving Ashes name into the cold stone, painting the memorial in white. 

Something I noticed about McQueen’s style is that he starts by showing a small detail and then he reveals the whole picture. In Western Deep, first, he focuses on one of the miners repeating an exercise under the sound of the red light and then he moves back and shows the whole room filled with men doing the same over and over again. In one of the shots in Ashes, he focused on a bee trapped by the sticky white paint on the memorial and slowly reveals the larger picture of the cemetery with tons of new memorials all painted In white. I like this particular approach because it helps in building up with the emotional connection with the audience – people are more likely to sympathize with an individual rather than a group. Because as Joseph Stalin said to Averill Harriman:

“A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” 

What is more, this approach guides the audience through the film and places emphasis on what is important and should not be overlooked or ignored. 

In conclusion, I would say that this was probably one of the best exhibitions I have been to in London so far. I hadn’t seen anything from Steve Mcqueen previously, but I loved the use of color and sound in his work. What I found most inspiring is that he addresses serious issues, often neglected by modern society.

Now, to cheer you up after my talk about death and suffering – check out the cute photo of a grandma and her grandson sitting by the window on the last floor

Bread and Butter,

Nicole