Then: September 2011
(google images) Tate Modern on the river Thames, Pictured here with the Millennium Bridge
My first outing undertaken alone was to the Tate Modern art gallery in Southwark. I walked from Aldgate East where i was living down to the Thames at the Tower of London and up along the river until i reached Millennium Bridge- or the wibbly wobbly bridge as i liked to call it.
Wibbly wobbly because with hours of it being opened by the Queen it began to sway violently in the wind and had to be shut down and re- enforced over the following 6 months. Its also the bridge that the death eaters destroy in a Harry Potter film and it wibbles and wobbles its way into a water grave in that scene so why not call it the wibbly wobbly bridge?
Le wibbly wobbly- a nice sunset photo from the riverside. People either love or hate this bridge and I am definitely in the former category, Ive taken everyone across it. From Mum, to Mike, to Virpi and Jelle. It offers stunning views of London and the River
Anyway. After a giddy trek across the wibbly wobbly i came upon the Tate Modern and was immediately confused about how to enter the building. My brain said- go through the big front doors, my feet however took me around the back and in through a side door that i doubt was meant for the public but hey. I got there in the end.
The big doors i didn't go in haha
Once inside i was awed by the size and set out of the gallery, lots of lifts, floors and exhibits to check out i was thoroughly entertained for hours on end. I came across some wonderful artworks well known and otherwise and I had a great day walking around taking in all the exhibits.
Two of my favourite artworks- Monet's 'Waterlillies' and Jackson Pollock's 'Summertime: Number 9A' I stood a long time just looking at these artworks. Seeing the different layers of paint, different brush strokes. It felt wonderful to be seeing them in person and not from an art textbook or google images.
It felt like being back in Art at school, with all the students walking about with their VAPD's (visual arts process diaries- a kind of log about your artistic works) I only wish i had brought one along myself so i could talk down a little bit about the exhibits and the artists names and such.
Artwork from 'a living man declared dead and other chapters'- i really enjoyed the stories of these people and as an avid people watcher i spent my time looking at all their faces and thinking about how similar and different our lives could be. It was a wonderful exhibit.
There was however a fantastic room dedicated to Taryn Simon's "a living man declared dead and other chapters"- here is a little bit of info taken from Simon's website...
"A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters I – XVIII was produced
over a four-year period (2008-11), during which the artist, Taryn Simon,
travelled around the world researching and recording bloodlines and their
related stories. The subjects Simon documents include victims of genocide
in Bosnia, test rabbits infected with a lethal disease in Australia, the
first woman to hijack an aircraft, and the living dead in India. Her
collection is at once cohesive and arbitrary, mapping the relationships
among chance, blood, and other components of fate.
Each work in A Living Man Declared Dead is comprised of three segments. On
the left of each chapter are one or more large portrait panels systematically
ordering a number of individuals directly related by blood. The sequence of
portraits is structured to include the living ascendants and descendants of
a single individual. The portraits are followed by a central text panel in
which the artist constructs narratives and collects details. On the right
are Simon's 'footnote images' representing fragmented pieces of the established
narratives and providing photographic evidence.
The empty portraits represent living members of a bloodline who could not be
photographed. The reasons for these absences are included in the text panels
and include imprisonment, military service, dengue fever and women not granted
permission to be photographed for religious and social reasons.
Simon's presentation explores the struggle to determine codes and patterns
embedded in the narratives she documents, making them recognizable as variations
(versions, renderings, adaptations) of archetypal episodes from the present,
past, and future. In contrast to the methodical ordering of a bloodline, the
central elements of the stories – violence, resilience, corruption, and survival
– disorient the highly structured appearance of the work. A Living Man Declared
Dead and Other Chapters highlights the space between text and image, absence and
presence, and order and disorder."
The story surrounding these photos takes place in Qld Australia- and its about the culling of wild rabbits, I'm unsure if the artist sympathises with the rabbits or the culling program but it was interesting to see a portrait of bunnies amidst stories of peoples from war torn countries and victims of humanitarian crimes- i think its an interesting parallel.
The Tate Modern houses what I feel to be a lot of great works that are (whilst not always obviously) relatable to modern life- Works like the 'Venus of the Rags' by Michelangelo Pistoletto are a wonderful way to prompt thoughts about the choices we make in life and the world around us.
A man after my own heart- Pistoletto no doubt shares my feelings about consumerism. I wonder if he has more luck than i do in boycotting the lifestyle?
An installation by Abraham Cruzvillegas. This was very eye catching and as many of you know i love bits and pieces of paper so this bright installation drew me in like a moth to a flame :)
Do Ho Suh: 'Staircase 3'- Amazing string installation about how we view the world around us
And a part of the Gallery that i loved with the giant art movement wall. It featured all the artistic movements that are documented and artists who fall under those categories, It took me right back to Mrs Moy's art class and trying to memorise these categories for exams. I sat a long while and just remembered sunny days in her class and tried my hardest to identify one artist and their artwork from each category on the wall. I didn't do too well but i think i could hold my own against some of the crazy art types i saw walking about. After the wall i went down stairs to the wonderful shop and browsed until my bank account told me to calm down and go do something that didn't cost any money. So i ended by day by lying on the grass and in the sun out front of the museum :) It was a great way to begin my London adventures!
Good thing the Tate Modern had lots of space to sit and look. I spent a lot of time off in my own world. I think a good art gallery is one that can prompt thoughts and ideas. Hence the need for chairs!
