''Shibboleth'' was the title of a temporary art installation placed by the Colombian artist

Doris Salcedo Doris Salcedo (b. 1958) is a Colombian-born visual artist and sculptor."Doris Salcedo"
Art 21, Retrieved 1 ...

in the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

in 2007. The work took the form of a long crack in the floor.

Work

''Shibboleth'' by Doris Salcedo was a £300,000 installation, the eighth commission in the "Unilever Series" (sponsored by

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...

), which takes place annually in the Turbine Hall, the main entrance lobby of

in London. Salcedo's installation took the form of a 548-foot (167-metre) long, meandering crack in the floor of the Turbine Hall, a hairline crack at one end which expanded to a few inches of width and around two feet of depth at the other.Alberge, Dalya
"Welcome to Tate Modern’s floor show – it’s 548 foot long and is called Shibboleth"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', 9 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2008. The crack was made by opening up the floor and then inserting a cast from a Colombian rock face. A Tate spokesperson said, "She’s not specifying how it’s been done. What she wants is for people to think about what’s real and what’s not." Salcedo said of the work: Tate Director Sir

Nicholas Serota Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota, (born 27 April 1946) is an English art historian and curator, who served as the Director of the Tate from 1988 to 2017. He is currently Chair of Arts Council England, a role which he has held since February 2017. S ...

stated, "There is a crack, there is a line, and eventually there will be a scar. It will remain as a memory of the work and also as a memorial to the issues Doris touches on." The exhibition took place from 9 October 2007 to 6 April 2008. Following the exhibition the crack was filled in, leaving a visible line in the floor. Engineer Stuart Smith, who was responsible for the realisation and installation of the artwork, has since revealed that it was achieved by casting new concrete on top of the original floor slab.Cartwright, James
"The Man Who Tore The Tate In Two: Stuart Smith on making Doris Salcedo’s Shibboleth a reality"
''It's Nice That'', 2 June 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2016. The work has gained the nickname "Doris's crack".O'Keeffe, Alice
"Conceptual art should be allowed to speak for itself"
''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members o ...

'', 18 October 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008.

Health and safety

Prior to the exhibition's opening, the Tate's head of safety and security, Dennis Ahern, had warned of the danger of visitors tripping on the crack "with the potential for significant leg injury," but that "physical protection measures which would normally be applied to a gap of this nature are not deemed appropriate due to its artistic nature.""Crowds are suffering for their art at the Tate Modern
''

'', 26 November 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008. In some places it was wide enough for a small child to fall into. The Tate placed warning signs and designated staff to monitor the exhibit and hand out leaflets. In the first month of the display, fifteen people were injured, mostly minor, but four of the accidents were reported to the

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-depar ...

References

External links

''Shibboleth'' on the Tate web site, including video
{{Tate Installation art works 2007 works

Work

Health and safety

See also

References

External links