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Reflective Doctor Who Tardis on show at Hayward Gallery
Louise Jury11 Feb 2009
It is a shiny new Tardis fit for a Time Lord. But this is not a time machine for Doctor Who but an artwork that looks as if it is disappearing in the middle of a new exhibition.
Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, 2001, is by Mark Wallinger, the Turner Prize-winning artist who is curating the show at the Hayward Gallery.
Called The Russian Linesman, the exhibition is inspired by the official whose ruling in the 1966 World Cup Final changed football history.
Linesman Tofiq Bakhramov confirmed that Geoff Hurst's shot had crossed the line when the Germans disputed the referee's decision.
His crucial decision is a metaphorical rather than literal inspiration for Wallinger's investigation of boundaries, illusions and arbitrary divides.
Wallinger said: "I have always been interested in how we define and are defined by thresholds and boundaries, the events of history. The works in the exhibition use illusion, artifice and dislocating devices to look at our accidental time and place in the world afresh."
Other pieces blurring the boundary between fact and fiction include 18th-century trompe l'oeil paintings.
Ralph Rugoff, director of the South Bank gallery, said the show involved an intriguing mix of objects from the fields of science, politics and anthropology as well as art. It would "amuse, puzzle and engross visitors", he said.
Wallinger has just been chosen for Britain's largest public art commission. He is to create a 50-metre high white horse in the Ebbsfleet Valley in Kent.
Mark Wallinger Curates: The Russian Linesman, Frontiers, Borders and Thresholds , opens next Wednesday, 18 February, and runs until 4 May, with admission charge.
Reader views (6)
Go to see the artwork yourself before passing judgement.
So he used an existing idea, hes not the first and he wont be the last.
Using an existing idea gives a target audience, most people who grew up with Dr Who would be thrilled to see this.
Its a stunning piece of art that he has put time and effort into it.
You dont have to like it but respect that this is someones life.
and id love to see you do better 
- Nikki, lancashire, 24/02/2009 00:57
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It might have been an impressive idea 30 years ago ie. before Koons stainless steel casts - as it stands i found it obvious, protracted and quite devoid of any particular qualities. The Nauman next to it was great though.
- Charlie, london, 20/02/2009 15:34
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Typical, as previously pointed out, he took someone else's work and then decided to call it something the BBC have only recently been given the right to use. It's a Police Box, something found on most London street corners until the 1960's. Credit where credits due eh!
- Steve, Warrington, 13/02/2009 08:00
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Jock, it's slightly more original to change the appearance of an object than to simply copy it and put it in science fiction TV show. The TARDIS is based on Gilbert Mackenzie Trench's police box design for the Metropolitan Police. Nevertheless, so iconic was the BBC's theft that they now own the design, according to a 2002 patent office ruling. I think Wallinger's piece is in the same spirit and look forwad to seeing it.
Also, if you pre-judge art on how original you think it is (as if that's its only quality) then you are closing off a whole world of potential pleasures and experiences. More fool you, I say.
- Matthew, Leeds, Yorskhire, 12/02/2009 22:20
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How original...Take someone else's work, and give it a reflective skin.
- Jock, London, 12/02/2009 02:58
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Absolutely brilliant,i would love one for my house.
- Keith, South Carolina,USA, 11/02/2009 23:17
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