I Do, I Undo, I Redo by Louise Bourgeois

The former Bankside Power Station was renovated by Herzog & de Meuron to the contemporary art museum, Tate Modern opened in 2000. On the ground floor, there is an open space called The Turbine Hall that is five storeys tall. Every year the works of art of selected artist are exhibited at the Turbine Hall. This exhibition is called Unilever series. The series continues to provide the latest spectacle, such as The Weather Project by Olafur Eliasson and Sunflower Seeds by Ai Weiwei. The first exhibition upon opening of Tate Modern marked a momental meaning in the contemporary art world. It was I Do, I Undo, I Redo by Louise Bourgeois.

The work was consisted of three rusted towers with spiral staircases. The hight of each tower was at least 10 meters and people could go up the stairs. 

How to interpret “I Do, I Undo, I Redo”? It may be related to creation, because the factor of it is doing, undoing and redoing. 

After half a year of exhibition at the Turbine Hall, where did the huge objets go? It is currently in the premises of a hotel, Villa Coste in South of France. Dull objets are installed in a hollow and exposed to the light of Aix-en-Province. The work must be seen very different from how it had been viewed at the Turbine Hall in Tate Modern. At least they lost their mirrors installed at the top. 

U.K. and France are neighbours separated by sea, but how did this happen? The entry to the premises of Villa Coste is only allowed to the hotel guests, which means limited people have a chance to see this Bourgeois’s work. 

This huge objets look odd at this sophisticated place. It looks like a site of construction without people. Abandoned construction, never to be completed. The meaning of the work “I Do, I Undo, I Redo” may imply ‘incomplete’, ‘on-going’ and ‘to be created over and over again’… Works of art are always in a process of creation, incessant repeat of destruction and recreation, that is, active destruction and recreation rather than aiming at completion.