In addition to the interior galleries, Harrison has taken the idea of the museum as a platform, or pedestal for art, further by reinstalling Franz West's light blue Couch up on the roof of the Hessel. On the lawn in front of the museum, Harrison has also topped the two truncheon-like protrusions of West's Mercury with specially made wigs, a characteristic juxtaposition for Harrison and a playful nod to an artistic figure with whom she is often compared. This intervention on the West is poignantly resonant of many of Harrison's sculptural strategies. Her ungainly, blobby sculptures (often sat atop painted pedestals) are coated with a signature pearlescent paint, on top of which she posts photographs (often taken from the tabloid press or Google image searches), inserts video monitors, or effortlessly drops found objects to create a multivalent rebus, challenging the viewer to connect apparently disparate clues. In this, she has bridged the divisions of sculpture, photography, painting, video, and installation. She does so with a canny wit, a taste for irony and its oft-companion, tragedy.
Consider the Lobster will be on view at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, from April 27 - June 20, 2010
Consider the Lobster is curated by Tom Eccles.