Loa 2007

Curator: Here we have Albert Oehlen's mixed media work, "Loa," housed right here at the Tate. Editor: It feels like a deconstructed advertisement, a collage of fragmented images fighting for space. Kind of chaotic, but intriguingly so. Curator: Yes, Oehlen often layers found imagery. The word "Loa" itself resonates with the spirits in Haitian Vodou, suggesting hidden presences within the mundane. Editor: Maybe it’s the blues and the slightly obscured figures, but there's a sense of melancholy that seeps through despite the surface noise. Curator: The layering and obscured figures remind us of the way cultural memory itself functions—palimpsests of meaning built upon each other. Editor: It’s funny how something so visually cluttered can still evoke such a strong feeling of yearning. Curator: It certainly leaves you pondering the relationship between visibility and presence, doesn’t it? Editor: Absolutely. It's a piece that lingers, like a half-remembered dream.