I nipped into the Saatchi Gallery this morning before my meditation and yoga sessions commenced, feeling not unlike the ill-famed American tourist cliché (whizzing around Paris before lunch, London in the afternoon, and enjoying dinner and cocktails in Rome…) I whizzed through the halls currently all filled with sculptures. On the lower ground floor I found Richard Wilson’s intriguing 20:50 installation and paused.
20:50 is a room full of engine oil basically – and it is fascinating. The smell of the oil hits you first as you enter the space, then the slight confusion as to what is solid and what is not. The white walls and ceiling are reflected in the oil creating optical illusions of, for instance, a walkway accross the liquid like you can see above. And so, to me, the piece enquires into the nature of reality.