Editing Rachel Whiteread (section)

===''Embankment'' (2005–2006)===
<!-- Should EMBANKMENT be (2004) or (2005)? -->
[[Image:Whiteread tate 1.jpg|thumb|''Embankment'']]
In spring 2004, she was offered the annual [[Unilever]] series commission to produce a piece for [[Tate Modern]]'s vast Turbine Hall, delaying acceptance for five to six months until she was confident she could conceive of a work to fill the space.<ref name=Barber2005 /> Throughout the latter half of September 2005 and mid-way through October her work ''Embankment'' was installed and was made public on 10 October.

It consists of some 14,000 translucent, white [[polyethylene]] boxes (themselves casts of the inside of cardboard boxes) stacked in various ways; some in very tall mountain-like peaks and others in lower (though still over human height), rectangular, more leveled arrangements. They are fixed in position with an adhesive. She cited the end scenes of both ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' and ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' as visual precursors; she also spoke of the death of her mother and a period of upheaval which involved packing and moving comparable boxes.<ref>''[[The Culture Show]]'', [[BBC Two|BBC2]], 13 October 2005</ref>

It is also thought that her recent trip to the [[Arctic]] is an inspiration, although critics counter that white is merely the colour the polyethylene comes in, and it would have added significantly to the expense to dye them.  The boxes were manufactured from casts of ten plain cardboard boxes by a company that produces grit bins and traffic bollards.<ref name=Barber2005 />

The critical response included:
<blockquote>
"With this work Whiteread has deepened her game, and made a work as rich and subtle as it is spectacular. Whatever else it is, Embankment is generous and brave, a statement of intent."<ref>Searle, Adrian. "[https://www.theguardian.com/arts/features/story/0,11710,1589338,00.html A view of a mind at work]". ''The Guardian'', 11 October 2005. Retrieved on 28 March 2007.</ref>

</blockquote>
: — [[Adrian Searle]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 11 October 2005.

<blockquote>
"Everything feels surprisingly domestic in scale, the intimidating vistas of the Turbine Hall shrunk down to irregular paths and byways. From atop the walkway, it looks like a storage depot that is steadily losing the plot; from inside, as you thread your way between the mounds of blocks, it feels more like an icy maze."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/archives/2005/10/10/block_by_block.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Block by block | access-date=22 May 2010 | date=19 August 2008}}</ref>
</blockquote>
: — Andrew Dickson, ''[[The Guardian]]'', 10 October 2005.

<blockquote>
"This is another example of meritless gigantism that could be anywhere, and is the least successful of the gallery's six attempts to exploit its most unsympathetic space,"<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/arts/articulate/200510/s1479726.htm Evening Standard, quoted in ABC news]{{Dead link|date=December 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Australia)</ref>
</blockquote>
: — [[Brian Sewell]], ''[[London Evening Standard]]'', October 2005.

<blockquote>
"[looks] like a random pile of giant sugar cubes [...] Luckily, the £400,000 sponsored work is recyclable."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16232574&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=unveiled--tate-s-new-art--14-000-white-boxes--name_page.html|title=UNVEILED: TATE'S NEW ART..14,000 WHITE BOXES|first=Stephen|last=Moyes|website=[[Daily Mirror]] |date=11 October 2005}}</ref>
</blockquote>
: — Stephen Moyes, ''[[Daily Mirror]]'', 11 October 2005.