VIDEO: POLITUS (Refined) : What we choose to remember

Tyler Moorehead, 2019. Running time 11:09

Politus is a performative exploration of respectability, aspiration and class, through domestic artefact.

The artist uses items to hand to reflect on the symbols of refinement cherished by her mother. In the process of memorialising one symbol of respectability, she defiles another.

Politus was installed at Tate Modern ‘Art on Air’ as a response to Kara Walker’s Fons Americanus in the adjacent Turbine Hall. The piece takes its name from Walker’s insight ‘what we choose to remember’.

The silent piece uses the shadow of cut crystal glasses as a symbol to explore patterns of achievement, acceptability and assimilation among the black middle classes.

Seeking to acknowledge her elders, whilst denying the power of these cultural expectations over her own life, the artist memorialises the image of crystal glasses on a fine linen tablecloth as a symbol of belonging.

I Can't Remember Where I Came From: Objects as thresholds to past memories and imaginary futures, Tyler Moorehead, 2024.

Drawing on Jean Baudrillard's 1968 text, 'The System of Objects', the artist explores how we define and relate to fragments of objects.

In this multi-sensory provocation, the artist speculates how fragments of family lineage and fragments of objects might converge.

Liminale describes a state of limbo when one becomes slowly untethered from one's authentic origin story, as adopted identities of affinity and fancy fuse into one.

At the centre of the installation is a large, transient structure matching the artist's precise 1.68m stature. A tarpaulin, light ropes, five heavily stuffed hessian sacks and a collection of stones share the burden of support.  

The search for grounding one's own memory of identity is juxtaposed with artefacts of no provenance, period or purpose, constructed entirely from the detritus of other objects.  These include natural stones converted into artefacts of memory with gold painted bases, industrial metal fragments and family photos embedded.

The multi-sensory installation uses natural soundscapes incorporating water, birdsong and bells with a scentscape of rosemary, sage, citrus & clove to stimulate comfort and memory.

Liminale is the Italian word for 'liminal'.Stone artefacts with gilded bottoms are tethered to secure the tarpaulin over hessian sacks.

Site-specific work for the Casino Nazionale, Lucca Province, Italy.

Supported by Borgo Degli Artisti.

‘Meet Me at the Upside Down Table’ Tyler Moorehead, 2018-19.

Tea experience and installation inspired by Japanese tea ceremonies and board game play. The piece draws on the 1906 english text 'Book of Tea', by Okakura Kakuzo which invites citizens to ‘cherish their unpolished selves’.

Four principles of Japanese tea - harmony, respect, purity and tranquility - become a form of ritual play in which guided reflection encourages empathy and appreciation of a stranger, over a cup of tea. 

At the centre of the installation is a bespoke ‘tea table’ in the form of an esoteric board game. Tablecloths are displaced to uncover both the table and the truth. With overshadowing etiquette removed, pristine tablecloths hang idly as frozen ceiling sculptures, where they can do no harm.

Benches fashioned from bales of vintage tablecloths are designed to cause guests to rise and sit simultaneously as they move around the table. Forcing them to act in  solidarity to ensure their mutual stability.

‘Even on my knees’, 2018-19.

A participatory public installation within the Upside Down Table exhibition that celebrates vulnerability. Its form suggested by ancient Torii gates of Shinto shrines.

Vintage teapot covers are hardened and converted into ‘bells’ with items selected by visitors in tea sessions hung as bell clappers. 

Inspired by Japanese shrines, the installation canopy and floor tapestry expanded as new visitors shared their reflections. Their contributions woven alongside others as a growing shrine and tapestry on public view.

Visitors were invited to attach words of encouragement for other visitors into the tapestry. Taking a moment to acknowledge the hurts and scars that all humans share.

Photos: Bernadette Baksa