Annette Messager: The Messengers

















I recently visited this fantastic exhibit at the Hayward in London. My favourites were 'Inflate/Deflate' and 'Casino' (pictured) where a movement of air stimulates a huge wave of red silk towards the viewer through a door-like opening.

It's quite intimidating at first; At one point you feel as if the wave will engulf you, it then subsides and small illuminated objects begin to surface from beneath the watery silk waves followed by peculiar black symbols descending from the ceiling, and then rising back up into the darkness. 'Inflate/Deflate' has an assortment of inflatable silk body organs, which 'breathe' and pulsate in a synchronized pattern creating a sense of being enclosed inside a body cavity.