Detail

Tom Burr’s installations cannot be overlooked. They dominate the exhibition space despite the simplicity of their simple forms and unadorned dark colouring. Tom Burr employs the strict formal language of 1960s minimal art, making use of plain industrial materials and serial structuring. The artists involved with minimalism such as Carl Andre or Donald Judd, intended to create works that were particularly rational, free of meaning and that always forced viewers back on to their own perceptions. In contrast, looking at Tom Burr’s black boxes opens up a whole scenario of associations and ascribable meanings. The objects appear to be cages, horse boxes with open doors, we can enter them and discover that the view from inside is very different to viewing the object from a distance. Cages exist not only for animals but also for humans and Burr’s boxes may well cause us a slight unease, bringing to mind those mechanisms of violence and regimentation that make use of cages all over the world. The simple geometric forms then become symbols of power and control.