Masthead
One of my photos

Tate Modern

May 10th, 2006 · Posted by Skuds in Life · No Comments · Life

As it was a pleasant sunny day today I went for a lunchtime stroll up to the Tate Modern and back.

There is a strange atmosphere there at the moment. For a start half the galleries are closed while they reorganise everything. I’m not 100% certain, but I think they are getting away from grouping works by theme and going to a more conventional arrangement – as far as anything at Tate Modern can be conventional.

All the cafes, shops and restaurants seem to be open though, and they still have space for two ticketed exhibitions.

The other difference is the absence of a large-scale work in the turbine hall. Rachael Whiteread’s Embankment has finished its allotted time and the next installation is not due until later in the year. The plastic replicas of cardboard boxes are not all removed yet, but most have already been shredded and sent away for recycling. Maybe the next time you buy a bottle of milk from the supermarket you will be pouring from an ex-work of art?

As I took a quick tour round the open galleries the philistine in me was busy identifying extra candidates for the shredder.

One thing which has not changed is the number of people there. There are the normal school groups on a field trip, trying to find something they can sketch, tourists and local workers on a lunch break. Its a popular place, and rightly so, but never so crowded as to be unpleasant.

On the way back to the bunker to continue work I was again struck by how busy and thriving the south bank has become in the last ten years. The north side of the river has really suffered from having roads and buildings right on top of the river.

Tags: ···

No Comments so far ↓

Like the collective mind of the Daily Mail, comments are closed.