The UBS opening at Tate Modern today and tomorrow is an intriguing one (but when have they ever been boring?): Characters Figures and Signs explores what happens when the distinction between 'saying' and 'doing' is blurred. The programme takes in semaphore, a workshop where artists Florian Hecker and Jennifer Lacey 'translate' a dance performance into verbal instructions to volunteer dancers and something complicated that involves the lobby spaces of Downtown Manhatten, a taped grid and ballet.
Xavier Roy, molecular and cellular biologist turned choreographer-dancer presents his piece Product of Circumstances, a sort of performance lecture which we can't picture but are dazzled by the possibilities of such a work by such a person. This is a ticketed event, £10 at 10pm, tonight and tomorrow.
Also watch out for a (free) re-enactment of Plouf! on the Thames outside Tate Modern - this is the thing where one boat full of audience and one boat with the artists Flavien and Bismuth met in the sea off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The performance had to be interpreted through what the artists could signal to the audience as the boats drifted near then away from each other... bring binoculars if you've got a pair and get into position at 3pm, 4pm or 5.15pm.
And there are films and talks as part of Saturday Live, check out the full programme on the Tate Modern website for details. Now, flex those toes and step, step, step, turn, bend, step, jump over to Tate Modern to get yourself thinking about Characters, Figures and Signs - beats shopping for disposable t-shirts at Primark, certainly.
Image of Tate vs. St Paul's by Matt Brown
