On any opportunity when I head to London, I stop by Tate Modern, in the summer of 2021 I was curious to see how the institution had faired during the pandemic.  Like many Firms, the gallery had undergone a reshape and made various employees redundant.

 

In one gallery space was Louise Bourgeois, Knife Couple, 1949.  When looking at the sculpture I notice a tiny movement, with only an iPhone at hand, I tried to take a closer look by zooming in (the sculpture has a wire gallery barrier to prevent any damage to the work) and saw a money spider sitting on the top of one of the totems and between the two totems was a spider web.

 

A tiny spider had made Bourgeois’s work their home; a serendipitous observation given the artist’s use of spiders throughout her work, yet importantly, how has this sculpture been allowed by the gallery to have the spider living on it, let alone have time to make a web; has the reduction in staff impacted the care their collection?