On reflection

The exhibit that I liked at the Baltic - "Square dreams" by Kader Attia was a collection of fridges (150 according to the literature - I didn't count them) covered with small, square mirror tiles and all assembled to resemble a city skyline.

I loved the fact that the fridges had all been reclaimed from garbage, and seemed to me to be a statement about our disposable consumerist society. the literature for the display says that:

"Attia seems to be ironic about the structures we struggle to erect as monuments to ourselves. He comments on the human instinct that drives us to collect possessions, and to protect and defend them against all-comers. Like the Tower of Babel of Christian mythology, he sees the fortresses of possessions we build as our weakness."

I like that, and would add that these fortresses are commonly the cause of our divisions and lack of community.

Of course, art works at all sorts of levels - and Dolly D just thought that they were 'way cool' (pun originally unintended but shamelessly exploited by me!) and 'could she buy one?'

Oh, and they're useful as mirrors too!