Art Review: Mona Hatoum - Hot Spot @ White Cube Mason's Yard

Let's get it straight. Two pieces of big rubbish, two pieces of little rubbish, and one piece of big gem. Sitting at the centre of the ground floor gallery of the newly opened White Cube Mason's Yard is a big cage-like globe made of black stainless steel with vermilion-coloured neon tracing the shape of continents and islands (Hot Spot).

I don't get excited. The globe, surrounded by red-coloured walls, is tilted, just like the real earth, with Europe at the top. Eurocentrism? The artist uses more than one neon tube to trace the costal lines. I would be impressed if a single neon tube outlined the world map, indicating the unity of the world though careful attention is required to realize it.

On the wall of the gallery hangs a small world map made of cotton (Projection). I'm offended by the fact that Japan is one island on this map. (If you don't know, Japan consists of four main islands.) Going downstairs does not help me feel better. A large black cage sits on a white cube gallery (Cube). I can see something like this in a park: a playground equipment known as the jungle gym. When I look on the wall, four little maps show the airline routes in the United States, the UK, Europe, and Spain (Routes IV). The artist fills triangles created by airline routes to create a geometric pattern on the map. Well, children can come up with this idea, can't they? Also, why not Asia or Africa? The Democratic Republic of Congo would be very interesting. Don't you know this country has developed a good airline transport system though it has terrible road and railway networks? A good art work wouldn't allow a viewer to say, "I could have done this in a better way."

The four consecutive disappointments lead me to the final gallery, a very spacious white cube. Hanging from the ceiling and stretching over the entire space is a cobweb after the rain (Web). The center of the web is at the height of your waist. It's just beautiful. No unnecessary decorations. It perfectly matches the whole concept of White Cube. Gazing at raindrops on the web randomly reflecting six white lights on the ceiling somehow calms down my mind which has always been messy recently. I realize there is one common theme penetrating all the three big works: you can look into the other side with awareness of this side. That's what a cage and a web allow you to do. But the message the artist wants to convey by that theme unfortunately fails to reach me.

Masa Kudamatsu
http://econoclasm.blogspot.com/

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For more information about the exhibition, please visit: http://www.whitecube.com/exhibitions/hotspot/