For the inaugural Hyundai Commission, Abraham Cruzvillegas unveiled Empty Lot, a large sculpture provoking questions about the city and nature, as well as wider ideas of chance, change and hope. Two stepped triangular platforms extended across Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall inviting visitors to wander through the supporting scaffolding and explore underneath the platforms or to the wider view of the work from above on the Turbine Hall bridge. The platforms held a geometric grid of 240 wooden planters filled with over 23 tons of soil collected from parks and gardens all across London from Peckham Rye to Regent’s park. Abraham Cruzvillegas often creates sculptural works from local objects—often found, and some bought. Using materials found in skips and building sites around Tate, Cruzvillegas further constructed lampposts which for the duration of the project lit the soil. In the middle of London, Hyundai Commission: Abraham Cruzvillegas: Empty Lot was a space where nothing was planted or produced but where change could happen.

Hyundai Commission: Abraham Cruzvillegas: Empty Lot was curated by Mark Godfrey, Senior Curator, Tate Modern, with Fiontán Moran, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern.