Paola Pivi 1000

Tate Modern's vast Turbine Hall was filled with the noise of 1000 people screaming in unison as…
Tate Modern's vast Turbine Hall was filled with the noise of 1000 people screaming in unison as loud as they possibly could.

I was one of the screamers on the bridge of the Turbine Hall, contracted for these few seconds by the Italian artist Paola Pivi.

One thousand people make a lot of noise, and I was hoping to listen to the reverb we would create after letting out one single scream with one bout of breath. Alas, any reverb drowned in a prolonged screaming attack stemming from the visitors, who initially joined our scream, but were not instructed to stop as we were. What was conceptualised as a short few seconds display triggered a visitor reaction that was at least five times as long as our performance - and we only realised after a few moments what was happening.

To relive this moment, watch this vide from Tate Shots: