Robert Rauschenburg at the Tate Modern London: What was he trying to achieve? An interpretation
Tate Modern London Robert Rauschenburg Exhibition – an understanding of what he was trying to achieve
Slap, scrape, gather garbage and stick it on. That’s Tate Modern Robert Rauschenburg
Rauschenburg & Detritus – as seen at the Tate Modern Robert Rauschenburg exhibition.
Include anything, variety as the key. Detritus, old umbrellas, bike reflectors, bits of fabric and wood as well as furnishing materials.
A combination, a ‘Combine’. Whatever seemed to be available, Rauschenburg made use of it for his works to cause controversy and debate.
‘Charlene’ as seen at the Tate Modern Robert Rauschenburg exhibition.
Rauschenburg & Ready Mades
‘A picture is more like the real world when it is made out of the real world’ that is the detritus of modern life.
Even through to his later work – nothing more than displays of old cardboard boxes. Similar to Warhol’s ‘Ready Mades’ of Brillo boxes.
What would be the influence here? What of the influence of Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ and ‘Bicycle Wheel’ sculptures?
Tracey Emin influenced with her ‘My Bed’? The objects simply being themselves for us to make what we will of it all.
Rauschenburg & 1964 as seen at the Tate Modern Robert Rauschenburg exhibition.
Rauschenburg moved on to screen prints with the most familiar being his ‘Retroactive II’ as seen at the Tate Modern Robert Rauschenburg exhibition.
Spot the familiar images and note the date – 1964
Rauschenburg & Combine
A ‘Combine’ as in combine harvester: harvesting, thrashing, sorting and filtering the everyday ready mades and images and slapping them together, daubing with colour and leaving for us to identify with as components of our own existence, life styles, consumerism, environmental issues.
Certainly to mull over and come to our own conclusions in respect of our impact on each other and the world.
Rauschenburg makes you THINK…
Such is the power of these works – to make us think for ourselves, the answers not being provided.