Dimensions: object, each: 1120 x 485 x 1070 mm
Copyright: © Antony Gormley | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Antony Gormley's "Testing a World View" installed at the Tate. The figures seem disoriented, almost lost in the space. What's your take on this installation? Curator: Ah, Gormley, ever the body-conscious sculptor! I see these figures as points of orientation, or disorientation, in a world that's constantly shifting. They're testing their limits, aren't they? Pushing against the architecture, merging with the floor, and asking us, where do *we* stand in all of this? It's like a cosmic yoga class gone slightly awry, don't you think? Editor: That's a refreshing perspective! It makes you think about your own connection to the space. Curator: Precisely! Gormley's work isn't just about the figures themselves, but about our own embodied experience within the world. Food for thought, indeed.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gormley-testing-a-world-view-t12034
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Testing a World View is a sculptural installation consisting of five identical iron figures bent at right angles at the waist. The figures are based on a cast made from the artist’s body and are installed in varying positions related to the architecture of the space where they are on display. The figure’s ninety degree angle corresponds to sitting bolt upright with the legs stretched out in front, or bending over with legs and back very straight. It may also be read as corresponding to the absolute laws of geometry. Gormley explored the potential of this ‘absolute’ posture by positioning the sculptures in different orientations, for example lying in the middle of the room or against the walls, ceiling and floor. According to the artist, the different positions evoke states ranging from ‘hysteria, head-banging, catatonia, to the awakened dead and the about-to-be-beheaded’ (note from the artist to Tate curator Evi Baniotopoulou, March 2005). The work was exhibited at Gormley’s Turner Prize display in Tate Britain in 1994, when he won the prize. Referring to Testing a World View, the artist has commented that:
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