Arty Party or Arty Farty? (Tate Modern in general)

Member Name: salgirl

Product:	Tate Modern in general
Date:	13/04/01 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see opinion

Disadvantages: see opinion

I don't like modern art, so a journey to the Tate Modern might seem a little stupid.

I'd actually wanted to see the building not it's contents. I'd been fascinated by the television documentary that recorded it's transition from derelict power station to a monument to modern art and architecture. The old man was keen so off we went.

It was the day that the wobbly bridge opened. Then closed. We'd not been able to cross it and so we'd got more time on our hands on the Southbank than we'd bargained for. Just as well as it turns out.

Entering into Turbine Hall is breathtaking. Magnificent emptiness. You are immediately shrunk down into insignificant ant size as you plod down the incline and into the chamber that once held the massive turbines. Hence the name. Rising for a good few hundred feet, your eye is drawn up the side to the lit galleries, each floor holding challenging exhibits and stuff I consider to be recogniable art. The sculptures awaiting your arrival in the hall have a better view of these, seeing as how they too are massive in scale, and reminded me of artwork I'd seen on the front of the Penguin's book for "War Of The Worlds" by H. G. Wells. Giant spider-like creatures is my description, although that probably has their creators banging their fists at my philistine viewpoint.

I wandered through the many galleries listening to people's opinions of what artists were trying to say, and seeing if I could see it that way too. Nah. A pile of bricks, is a pile of bricks.

I then walked into a half-completed room with decorator's ladders, paint pots, dust sheets, half empty cups of tea and dirty ashtrays. I though this was a bit much, I mean I know that they were pressed to get it finished before the opening, but this really was unprofessional. Then I saw some cat food. Then a pair of kiddies wellington boots. An opened bottle of Lucozade. Okkaaaaaaaaaaay.
This is art. Feeling a bit foolish, I then railed about how silly all of this seemed, it said nothing to me. My husband had been reading the handy little plaques that tell you about the artists and their work, and asked me what I thought of it. I told him. He asked me about the Lucozade bottle. I told him it was a nice Lucozade bottle. He asked me if it was real. I thought he'd lost it.

Then I looked. NONE of this stuff was real. It had all been sculptured from polyurethene (if I remember correctly). I was dumbfounded and almost fell on the floor in total amazement at their skills and my ignorance. Everything was spot on. The dirt in the treads of the ladders. The folds and paint stains in the dust sheets. The cigarettes in the ashtray, bent, broken and spilling out their tobacco. Fan-blooming-tastic.

For this room alone, I would go again.

For that and the fact that it showed me a surrealist of whom I'd been unaware. Dorothea Tanning. Her two pictures that enthralled me involved nightmare scenes and reawakened my interest in all things bizarre. I managed to spot a Dali and ogled over that for ages. The following room held one of Monet's waterlillies, what a contrast!

At this point we took a break for coffee in their little cafe bar place (no room to sit anywhere) but went out onto an open-air balcony with fantastic views across the Thames. The majority of people out there were smokers, so non-smokers - be warned! Great coffee, great pastries, great view, and pretty good value considering London prices.

The venue is worth the visit alone. It's free. Good facilities. Close to other major Southbank attractions and eateries, and not forgetting the vast collection of art at their disposal.

I'm not arty enough to reel off all the exhibitors and their pieces, and I'm sure they change regularly anyway. The rest of the gallery was filled with stuff that flew over my head. Didn't get it an
d I thought a lot of these artists were just plain barking.

Still, that's art for you.

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