Everyone knows the Tate Modern, but do they know the building used to be a power station? Its transformation into a world renowned art gallery began in 1995, gutting the building and reconstructing the inside. The Tate Modern opened to the public in May 2000.
One of the most memorable parts of the building for me is the Turbine Hall, the huge space you walk into when you first enter. It is five storeys/35 metres high and 152 metres long. It has been used for displaying large commissioned art works, some of which I have found images for, above.
The very top image is by Olafur Eliasson, 2003-04. It is called The Weather Project, and is meant to represent the sun. It was made with a giant semi-circular form, and mono-frequenct lamps (otherwise known as street-lamps) circling it from behind. A fine mist infiltrated the air, creating an air of mystery and awe.
Carsten Holler created Test Site 2006. These were a series of tubes spiralling down from the top floor to the ground floor in the turbine hall. The name implies this is just a trial run for something even larger and better.
In 2007 Shibboleth by Doris Salcedo was commissioned. She created a chasm down the whole length of the turbine hall. Shibboleth means a custom, behaviour etc, that distinguishes different social classes. The fissure in the floor to me signifies how underneath our modern ways lies deeper issues that need to be addressed.
TH.2058 by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster was installed in 2008. It looked at what life would be like in 50 years time, and feature bunk beds, huge bug like sculptures, and snippets of science fiction films played on a huge screen. One of her biggest influences was the weather, and in particular the never ending rain, and how London has adapted to it. The scene represents a shelter where Londoners can take refuge from the rain, as well as the giant sculptures standing among the beds. The bunk beds are scattered with books, saved from the rain. I went to the Tate Modern when this installation was up, but unfortunately only saw it from above, and didn't have enough time to look around it. The first thing I saw was the giant spider sculpture towering above everything else. I couldn't see much else, I think I must have been on the top floor, but it was striking, and I did get an idea that it was something sci-fi related.
Embankment by Rachel Whiteread featured 14,000 casts of the inside of boxes, stacked on top of each other. The box that gave her inspiration was in her mothers house, shortly after she had died. It held memories for her, and from there she found more boxes to create the mountains of box casts. I vaguely remember visiting the Tate Modern when this installation was in the hall, and thinking they looke like sugar cubes. Whiteread wanted to make the hall look like a warehouse, and I think she succeeded.
This year Miroslaw Balka is being commissioned for the tenth installation in the Unilever series. It opens on 13th October if you are interested in visiting, and finishes 5th April 2010.
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