∆E=W by Emma Smith at Tate Modern – photos

The following slideshow of images by Hydar Dewachi are taken from the debut performance of Emma Smith’s game ∆E=W, performed at Tate Modern in the Energy and Processes gallery on 3 December 2011. ∆E=W (Change + Energy = The Work) is an ongoing project that Emma has been working on with support from an Artsadmin Bursary, and is developed from a series of experiments involving touch, the gaze and spatial harmonics.

A group of pre-selected members of the public were invited to reconsider the experience we have in a gallery through a series of vocal and physical responses to artworks on display. By interacting with Tate’s collection and each other, the players experiment with moving beyond a solo and contemplative relationship to art to explore the energetic relations between people, practice and space.

∆E=W aims to collapse the distinction between art object and ephemeral act by considering all matter, on the sub-atomic level, as energy. Moving beyond a scientific conception of energy, the project investigates the potential of art as a mechanism for channeling or converting energy as we physically experience it. Exploring energy in relation to the body, collective action, practice and work, the game proposes a new language for interpretation and interaction within the gallery.

View the gallery on Flickr
See a timelapse video from the performance
More about the work