The building of the Tate Modern was a truly incredible project. Strictly speaking not built from scratch but rejuvenated from the gutted shell of the Bankside power station. The Tate Modern is part of a larger regeneration scheme going on, on the south bank and is the flagship project from that area. The Bankside building is relatively unremarkable from the outside, a very Modernist structure built for function rather than aesthetic beauty, though I think it has a minimal elegance, a functional and economical simplicity of design which makes it an Icon of a previous industrial age, and an excellent choice for a repository of 20th C and contemporary art. It was built as a utilitarian building, and though it still has a utilitarian purpose its modernist profile and iconic aesthetic set it apart from its surroundings. An ideal choice for what has been described as a cathedral dedicated to modern art. It is not until you get inside that you appreciate the scale of the building, the cavernous entrance hall is what used to be the turbine hall for the huge electricity generators, and is a truly unique space which is also used to house large installations as well as allow an impressive and rather grand entrance to the thousands of visitors who pass through its doors every week. There is something rather wearing about modernism, The minimal modernist thing has been done to death, this building gets away with it, because it is a period piece, a genuine article and amongst the best of its time. The interior has been slightly slavish to the modernist cliche of Minimalism, particularly the entrance hall, which is simply vast cavernous and empty. But what can you do with a space like that, to change it would be to destroy it. I think you have to accept the somewhat cliched minimal modernist interior of the building because it is very much in keeping with the building, and it is not the building which is on show really it is the contents. I just think that more could have been done with this vast space without spoiling it and without detracting from its purpose.
The Tate is only a mile away from St.Pauls cathedral which is linked to the Tate via the millennium bridge, handy if you want to see all three. It is interesting to know that when the Power station was built that it was only allowed to be 99 meters tall so that it would not rival the huge dome of St. Pauls cathedral. It was also built to be part of the regeneration of London on the south bank of the river after the Blitz, so here it is being regenerated again as part of the south bank regeneration scheme in that particular area. This so called cathedral of the Industrial age was not allowed to challenge the iconic power of the old world. Now it has been re incarnated again as a cathedral of modern art.
Other regeneration projects in the area include the Oxo tower, Oxo tower wharf, and Gabriel Wharf buildings, these have been converted
into contemporary studios for contemporary designer/makers, producing fine and applied arts. When you have finished at the Tate maybe it worth a short walk down the riverbank to see some contemporary artists work and at work, all of the work produced at the Oxo tower and Gabriel wharf site is made and sold on site.
Coming inside the building the starting point for any visit is the information booths situated at the centre of the turbine hall. If your knowledge of 20th Century art history is a little rusty or a little sketchy then you may be interested to know that there is a free audio guide for any one who wants to borrow one. This is basically an outsize mobile phone which has a recorded commentary, provided by the gallery staff giving interesting insights into the paintings and work of selected artists throughout the gallery. Very handy if you are not up on your art history, and if you would prefer to go round on your own rather than herded round on one of the cattle drives accompanied by a harassed gallery guide trying to explain the history of the 20th C western canon in about 20 minutes, whilst jostling their crew through a disparate tide of gallery visitors all going in the other direction. Having said that I have been round on a guided tour, not something I normally like doing and if you have the time you will probably learn more than if you are just aimlessly grazing, you also get to ask questions and interact with a whole group of people which can be better if you are there on your own.
The permanent exhibition galleries are free to enter and you can stay all day, the only exhibitions you will be charged for are the special exhibitions which can be expensive, and you are limited to a time and how long you can stay. I went to the Matisse/Picasso exhibition in 2002, and I think I was charged £10 pound for the privilege, I only had a set time period, a couple of hours I think, and then I had to leave. I also nearly got thrown out of the exhibition for taking photographs, so either get permission before you go, or don’t get caught. I had a great shot all lined up and some loud mouth Yank hollered at the top of his voice ‘gee honey see that, I bet that would make a great picture’ so every body could hear him, at which point I was accosted by several gallery warders telling me what a naughty boy I was, and not to do it again. Luckily I did not have my film confiscated which I think they will if they think you have got any illicit pictures, so be warned, they are pretty hot on that kind of thing. It’s the kind of unpleasantness that could spoil your visit, if you are unsuspecting. Needless to say I felt like a criminal for the rest of the day.
There are also lectures and seminars which you can attend if you take the trouble to check the listings before you go I think it is much more worthwhile, you feel like you have had a bit of extra, that most of the mob have not, a bit of inside information, rather than just aimlessly trolling round looking at the pictures, you feel more a part of it. Last month there was a free lecture “Warhol” and this month is was “Utopia”. If you go to the Tate Modern web site you can find out when the free guided tours are, there are about six a day. There are also a variety of courses, workshops, talks and discussions, events, music, film, performance, tours, seminars, tours and group activities, its no use me listing them all here you need to go to the web site and see what is going on, www.tate.org.uk/modern The Tate Modern has a rather unusual policy when it comes to hanging their collection. Rather than hanging it in chronological order, the works are hung in a way in that they relate to each other on a subjective basis. In other words they are grouped by subject matter so that you can see how different artists have tackled the same subject. It is less laborious than wading through the whole 20th C canon from start to finish in order to make some sense of it. If you are like me and you like to read a book by starting in the middle, then the start and then the end you know what I mean.
There are four major themes in which the works are exhibited; History/Memory/Society, Landscape/Matter/Environment, Nude/Action/Body, Still life/Object/Real life. I think this is a very creative and imaginative way of using the works, I can’t stand the interminable chronological history books laid out by the other major collections, ie the Victoria & Albert, the National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Britain etc. I think the Tate modern can hold its head up against any of these. You can learn a lot more by comparing several artists at once and how they have interpreted the same subject matter, in small doses, than having to digest the whole 20th C canon all at once before you get the bigger picture. I think it is an inspired approach, and particularly as they have some of the most important works of the 20th century, by some of the most revered and prolific artists of the 20th C they have a duty to present them in the most effective way possible each possible. Each of the main floors has one of the themes so each time you arrive on a different floor you know you have arrived at a new theme. There is a central escalator which connects all the floors and a staircase, and an elevator so you take your pick. Disabled access is available to all floors, to my knowledge.
There is a large merchandising machine at the Tate Modern and it is difficult not to get drawn into it. Where as gallery merchandising used to be very low key, a few postcards perhaps and some gallery guides, these days it is big business, very much part of the gallery experience. There are some very pricy items for sale, mostly amongst the books which can easily cost £100. There are two extensive bookshops at the Tate modern one of which is a specific bookshop and the other more a
Pictures of Tate Modern (London)
Tate Modern from Millennium Bridge
general store. I don’t know about you but I don’t go to a gallery to spend that kind of money and almost without exception are amazed to see the amount of money some people are spending. Fair enough the Tate has a role as a specialist supplier of art books and why not, there is no better place I suppose, but sometimes I think they are pitching at the average tourist as well which I find a bit incongruous. There is also the usual plethora of nonsense, yer keyrings, pens and stuff, personally I don’t see why people have the need for these souvenirs, every where they go but I suppose some people must like it. The one cheap souvenir that is worthwhile at galleries like this is the postcards of the collection which most people can afford have some value, the Tates collection is comprehensively reproduced on postcards and if you want a cheap souvenir I would go for these every time.There are two eating places inside the building a café sort of a place and a more upmarket restaurant. I have to confess I have not been in the restaurant it was just too expensive, not for your average day tripper. The coffee bar was a bit more affordable, but I was by no means cheap, about usual for London prices on coffee and tea etc, and a range of over priced sandwiches and muffins.It was also too small there were more people buying stuff than could sit down, which I find unacceptable, they have been open long enough to know how many people come through their doors, and what kind of seating capacity they need. I ended up being edged out into the outdoor seating area on the balcony, in a howling gale with the other unlucky punters, not daring to move , in case a scrum descended upon me for my chair, thinking I was leaving. Just a minor grumble, but it’s a bit of a detail that could easily be sorted out if some one could be bothered .Apart from that, unless you are flush, take your sandwiches with you, and you should be ok. There is also a little sandwich van which hangs around outside the main entrance
Also when you arrive at the Tate and have got your free audio guide, and tickets and what ever, dump all your baggage and stuff at the cloakroom, this is one place where you not want to yomping round with a ton of stuff you are not going to need. It just gets too packed, and you will be mad as hell after an hour fighting your way through the crowds you get here, with an overcoat on one arm a rucksack over the other shoulder, a guide book in one hand and an audio guide in the other. I know it sounds obvious but I’ve done it myself. I only mention this because although the cloakroom is free you need to deposit something with them like a drivers licence or something with you’re ID on it with you
My advice to any one visiting London and wants to visit the Tate modern, and in my opinion it must be high on the list of tourist attractions, is to find out what is on first, and plan your visit to a particular day, with specific events you want to go to. This could be a lecture or a seminar on a particular point of interest. I know this sounds boring but it need only take half an hour or so and you will feel much more part of it and knowledgeable, it will make the rest of the visit that much more relevant. It is something I have only done myself in the last couple of years. Secondly try and organise your visit around some kind of special exhibition, especially if you have been before, there is nothing worse than traipsing round the same stuff again and again if you have been recently. The last time I went it was to the Matisse/Picasso exhibition, very special, this exhibition then went on to Paris, and New York, it was a very impressive and unique experienced and something which does not happen every other week. The pictures had been assembled from collections all over the world for a limited period, and would be dispersed again when the exhibition tour was over. Try and plan your visit to take in an exhibition like this, it makes it so much more worthwhile than just the permanent exhibitions, which are magnificent in themselves, make no mistake, but it was well worth the extra £10 it cost me for this one.The current special exhibitions are Donald Judd, 5 Feb.-25 April 2004, and Constantin Brancusi, 29 Jan-23 May2004.
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Oh! you have a fan here, your op was very informative and I agree with it.
I actually went in 2002 but did not go into the Picasso/Matisse. (Shame).
A natural lover of the old Tate I went with a friend to the new one. Many I had seen before, like Rothco. We had a great day and a really good laugh on the escalator, we just could not work out how to get to the middle floor! One can see it on the escalator but it does not take you there. We had to keep asking for directions!
There was a new painting they had just acquired, i had never heard of the artist and just cannot remember the title of the painting, it took up a rather large wall and we sat for nearly an hour observing it.
The small items you refer to in the shop like rubbers, pencils and keyrings are really for the school children who visit. This part of a school visit to any gallery or museum are fraught with tension for us teachers.
I was at uni near there when they were re-modernising all that side of the embankment. Linda
m.lyon 29.03.2004 13:34
I think we walked past this when we went to London last summer - I recognise the bridge in your photo. Great op. marc
eljefe 28.03.2004 10:34
hi, very heavy, academic review, but very informative..keep meaning to go, will take the gf at easter!
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Mar 27th, 2004
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