Nietzche wrote that in every man there is a playful child. He also said that there are none more serious than a child at play. So when artists turn their hand to making ‘playful art’, the audience can be sure it has been invited to experience with the rigorous intellectualism of a child.
The Tate Modern has a reputation for being a gallery of the people. In the past it has been accused of contributing to the “dumbing down” of high culture and over-simplifying complex theoretical approaches to art (others have suggested the Tate could do with dumbing down in some areas). But for all the slights and jabs it has had to weather over the years, the Tate Modern has definitely helped put the F back into the fun for art appreciation. For evidence of how it has managed to do this we need look no further than the entrance, or rather, the turbine hall.
