“ink jar” in “Inside Job” staff biennale exhibition at Tate Modern, London

Aug 8

“ink jar” in “Inside Job” staff biennale exhibition at Tate Modern, London

An artwork with some vast memories is small enough to hold in your hand

Ink jar / a list of the things I can not hold

Ink jar / a list of the things I can not hold

smooth sky
a glass sunrise
reflecting a vessel
the hills of a place that is only in the past
a container
a where I can’t go back to
nostalgia and longing
a gold top encloses that is not gold at all
but could be memories of
home
and there
murkily transparent
ink that coats the inside
(I can) hear the music and smell the memories
tobacco and summer and spices
darkly stained and stains the inside
two bumps two handles
to keep my fingers from slipping
when I hold it
round but not quite round
is wider near the neck
narrower at the feet
with those little Braille seed-bumps
if I could read it I’d understand more
stories that are not only my own
yet I still love to hear them
(as) the memories of an ocean
under a smooth glass sunrise sky

about Inside Job

“ink jar” is now on display alongside many other fantastic artworks in all media, in Inside Job Staff Biennale at Tate Modern from 7-20 August 2024 during gallery opening hours, in the 5th floor Blavatnik Building.

This exhibition has been curated and organised by The Inside Job Collective.

About the Inside Job Collective

The Inside Job Collective are a group of Tate Staff who organise and curate a biennial exhibition dedicated to the many creative talents of their colleagues, creating opportunities to share their work alongside the rest of Tate’s collection.

Inside Job will be on display at

Tate Modern
Blavatnik Building – Level 5
Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Open hours
Wednesday 7th August to Tuesday 20th August 2024
— 10am to 6pm daily

Inside Job Staff Biennale
is presented by Inside Job Collective and supported by

Kelise Franclemont