Keywords: Art, Culture and Society in 1980s Britain was a slightly frustrating experience for me when I visited it this afternoon. The exhibition uses Raymond Williams' book Keywords - A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (1976) as a structure for its narrative. So works are positioned opposite huge cursive writing of words (by Luca Frei and Will Holder) such as 'Private', 'Violence' and 'Materialism' - headings or the eponymous keywords which have been selected from Williams' book.
Unlike many exhibitions that focus on one or two words as a central theme, Keywords takes a whole cluster of words as it explores works that cover the themes and interpretations of these words. Having flicked through the book, it certainly looks as though it makes for interesting reading, like an expounded dictionary of selected words. The point of Williams' book is that words often have many different meanings but they also develop relationships with other words; words which often have a variety of different meanings too. So in the exhibition, works are placed opposite select words and works without a concrete indication of which words they belong to.
Because words and their meanings have such fluidity, it would seem that the arrangement of the works with their own fluidity of interpretation would work very well. But actually, the experience is a bit overwhelming. I found myself looking at a variety of paintings and sculptures and then trying to find their 'headings' and from that, how they explore them. About a third of the way through, I decided not to force the issue too much and so I focused mostly on the works themselves, reading any information that Tate Liverpool had provided on them.
That being said, I found some gems here. Within the film programme, I watched some of Dick Jewell's Headcases (1989) where twenty to thirty-somethings are asked a series of questions about sex, politics and their perceptions of themselves. The film's humour comes across as interviewees - look out for Neneh Cherry of Buffalo Stance fame - respond spontaneously to some rather intrusive questions. In contrast to that was a solemn triptych by Stephen Willats - Living with Practical Realities (1978) - in which a pensioner explains the lonely reality of her existence in a high rise flat.
There are other works that I feel I should mention. Derek Jarman's Ataxia - Aids is Fun (1993); a painting that actively gives the viewer a sense of this particular manifestation of the illness - one in which the sufferer loses control over the co-ordination of their limbs - and bites back at those that would seek to hold back on sympathy. I was drawn to the vibrant blues of Anish Kapoor's Untitled (1983) and their pleasing forms, much the same as I was to Tony Cragg's bronze sculptures, On the Savannah (1988).
A personal delight was a video by Duvet Brothers, Blue Monday/War Machine (1984) - a very apt year. The first segment of the film syncs the New Order track (slightly remixed) to footage of politicians, nuclear explosions and textile mills but it does it in such a way that the footage seems to inform the lyrics. The briefer, following segment features the persistent image of cannons firing to the sound of the equally persistent motto, "You ain't seen nothing yet!"
Overall, it isn't that Keywords is incoherent, it's just a bit of a hectic experience and quite an assault on the senses. If that's how you like your exhibitions, go and see it because there are some fantastic works on display here. If you don't, consider it first. I'm not at all sorry I went but I did feel like having a good sit down afterwards.
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/keywords-art-culture-and-society-1980s-britain
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