Tate Modern- The three pieces of art

Tate Modern 

When we went to the Tate Modern we had to choose 3 pieces of art that made us think of dreams and the subconscious these are the pieces i chose: 

Bruce Nauman - Violins Violence Silence (1981-2)

Neon tubing with clear glass tubing suspension frame 

Information i found on this piece at the Tate:

"Nauman often seeks to provoke a response to viewers. Here the words invite us to to make connections between them, both in terms of how they look as text and the possible narratives that could link them together. The candy colours and the buzzing of neon convey a sense of playfulness that contrasts with the uncomfortable associations of the words"

I personally really like this piece because of the glow it invokes the feeling of a dream like state, of euphoria. The medium of neon allows for an eerie yet beautiful colour scheme but the harsh setting you see it in, draws you to a darker place as your dreams can sometimes. The geometric shape not usually found in nature is strangely perfect for the dream like state you are in showing that the world has many imperfections unlike your dreams, which may seem messy and out of ordered but are strangely structured and perfect 

Bridget Riley -To a Summer's Day (1980)

Acrylic paint on canvas 

Information I found on this piece at the Tate:

"Coloured stripes cross along a common band, reminiscent of twisting ribbons, to create a wave pattern. The choice of colours was intended to provoke an optical mix in the eye, with as much interaction as possible between colours. Light blue and yellow ochre form the basic pair of colours into which occasional threads of rose and violet are introduced to accentuate the warm and cold accents across the canvas. The title refers to William Shakespeare's sonnet 'shall i compare thee to a summer's day"

The muted shades in this piece are of primary colours which are very viberant and active in reality however they seem dull and sallow in your dreams,which is displayed in this piece. The waves in the piece show the chaotic structure of our dreams, like and organised mess. The robotic sharpness of the lines mixed with organic shape impresses the feeling of an impending dream state to come. 

Paul Nash -Landscape from a dream (1936-8)

Oil paint on Canvas

Information I found on this piece at the Tate:

This painting marks the culmination of Nash’s personal response to Surrealism, of which he had been aware since the late 1920s. As the title suggests, it echoes the Surrealists’ fascination with Freud’s theories of the power of dreams to reveal the unconscious. Nash explained that various elements were symbolic: the self-regarding hawk belongs to the material world, while the spheres reflected in the mirror refer to the soul. Typically, Nash set this scene on the coast of Dorset, unearthing the uncanny within the English landscape.

This piece uses a palette of very calm and soothing colours invoking the feeling of a dream like state, as in our dreams our body is calm and resting. However the structures in this piece (walls and lines) create a trapped, isolated atmosphere like you cant escape, therefore giving you an interpretation of your dreams and the fact that you cant be free of them. Dreams allow a persons deepest and darkest desires appear and they cannot escape from the truth