The Culture Vultures Have Landed - for the last time this year!
Tuesday this week was the first day BiL had free, for weeks. We'd booked it provisionally the last time we 'did' London. We had PLANS. We wanted to see the Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life exhibition at Tate Modern. As 'twas, I'd had a busy five days the previous Wednesday-Sunday, so took Monday off to recover (plus some remedial stretching at Pilates and much-needed dust chasing at home.) I'd booked the OE@TM tickets a while back, along with my train tickets. Advance booking is the name of the game. You get a better selection of ticket prices, including the Really Less Expensive Ones (because they go a longer way round. Hey, it's all good knitting time and I have socks I want to give for Christmas and New Year!)
So current sock project loaded, I headed off. My train arrived late, but there you are, so we hailed a taxi to get to Tate Modern while our Time Slot (you have to book to the nearest half hour) was still open.
We decided to visit Tate Modern first because other people would be turning up in larger numbers through the day. As 'twas we started at 11.30am and the other visitors weren't too crowding. By the time we'd done, there were many more of them.
Not that I begrudge them their visits, but just sometimes it's nice to be able to see things without having to peer over the heads of a crowd (which BiL and I can, thank goodness) or to be able to stand back and take in a scene.
It was good. It was in places thought provoking and concerning. It seemed to be largely based on weather and/climate with a bit of added landscape. It was FUN!
Particular highlights?
Beauty - A linear shower of fine water droplets, lit, in an otherwise dark room. The light produced rainbow effects on the curtain of droplets. Think unicorn manes!
It was interesting to see how, without fail, all the children immediately ran through the water curtain - even when told not to by parents in some cases, but none of the adults did. Some of us did put out a hand to gauge the 'strength' of the 'rain'. Believe me, Dear Reader, there were times when it was raining Far Harder outdoors!
Big Bang Fountain - another dark room, totally dark this time, somewhat disorienting, but hey! In which very brief flashes of light 'froze' the shapes of water produced by a pulsing fountain. Sort of 'jellyfish' with many variations. I thought it was beautiful. We went back for another look later on.
Your Spiral View - a raised walkway through a multi-faceted reflective tube. I passed on walking through this. The walkway was plenty wide enough but I tend to 'wander' as I walk at the best of times, and looking at all those reflections. . . Think Hall of Mirrors smashed then glued back together again as a tunnel!
There was an installation involving coloured lights at the one end (In Real Life.) This viewed through Your Spiral View was really pretty.
The Glacier Series was just worrying. As a child Eliasson had taken photos of various glaciers while on family holidays in Iceland. This summer, twenty years later, he'd returned to the same spot to photograph each glacier again. Proof if any were needed that the Icelandic Ice sheet is shrinking at a horribly fast rate.
Indeed, the Icelanders held a 'funeral' for one glacier which finally melted right away this summer past. The rate of snowfall in recent winters just hadn't been enough to counteract the melting in increasingly warm summers. Climate Change due to (man made) Global Warming.
Your Blind Passenger was, I thought, the most fun. It was a 39m long, more than 2m wide passage filled with fog made from water soluble flog fluid containing non-toxic polyols. Apparently these are much used as sweeteners in food production. The fog certainly smelled sweet.
It was also thick. People would pass, take about five steps, and vanish. Think Victorian London, but without the sound effects, warmer, and generally much better smelling!
I went through trailing a hand along one wall (see 'wandering' as I walk, above.) The adventurous could go in and either walk up the middle of the passage, or turn round a few times, get really disoriented, then try. The lighting helped here.
At the start the fog was lit with mono-colour sodium light (think orange street lights.) So you were walking through an amber-coloured mist. Then there was a patch of blue light, after which it was bright white. As BiL pointed out, it was a great way of finding out that you have 'floaters' in your eyes!
We did that twice too.
After which we decided a sit down was in order, also lunch. Pull on waterproofs and head for Vapiano. Pasta carbonara for BiL and an enormous Insalata della Casa for me. Also coffees.
Then on to the Fashion and Textile Museum for their Zandra Rhodes: Fifty Years of Fabulous exhibition, which was Really Good. Also they'd managed to set the museum thermostat so that it was comfortable inside, even upstairs. Often it is Far Too Hot. A matter on which I've commented many times.
After all, people can put on a jumper or something - we do during the winter months! Heating bills go on forever, and add tremendously to the running costs of the museum - not to mention the melting of Icelandic (and other) glaciers!
There were many, many of Zandra's outfits; for most of which she'd also designed and printed the fabrics. Her particular 'thing' as a designer is to integrate the cloth (often chiffon-weight) and pattern with the movement of the wearer. Thus producing a spectacular whole so much more than the sum of its parts.
Being inspired by Mediaeval costume.
Or
Being part of her sari-inspired collection.
There was also a display of printed lengths of chiffon - either trial pieces or pre-garment, and several costumes she designed for various Operatic productions by an American company (sorry, can't remember which.)
Namely -
Magic Flute
Fire Guard and Water Guard. I don't know Magic Flute, apart from Papagino and the Queen of the Night arias. Perhaps in consequence the Water Guard reminded me more of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz!
Also - Aida
Which I thought truly spectacular. But then, it's Opera, that is - A Spectacle.
Tongue in cheek I told Niece that I was viewing the exhibition, looking for Ideas for her wedding dress - and sent her Aida. She may have believed me.
After which we needed to sit again. We're getting old and decrepit, and BiL is seven years younger than H and me! We also needed TEA. So repaired to a nearby cafe/bar, where we sat and chatted for a while as my (less expensive) return train didn't leave Waterloo until 19:30.
And on towards the bus stop, via what had been a sail-in covered dock on the side of the Thames. It's now shops, offices etc and had interesting stalls. So we went and had a look. Only looking.
There was one stall with real gemstone jewellery, including green garnet. 'Strue. I told the stall holder about Detroitite (as mined from the paint shop floor of the old Ford Car Factory in Detroit) and suggested she Google it. She was most impressed as Google provided images of a lovely looking gemstone a lot more natural than the vividly coloured stuff we'd seen at Arundel Castle back around Easter! Suggest you try it (Googling 'Detroitite') Dear Reader.
And so to Waterloo station and, eventually, onto an entirely uncrowded train. Having caught trains from Waterloo between 16:30 and 19:00 previously and played stand-up sardines for far too long, this was a pleasant and most welcome change. The only trouble was that by the time I got home (late, having been held up by the preceding 'stopping' train. Whose bright idea was it to 'rationalise' out crossing places?) told H about my day and had a night cap, it was too late for me to drop off. Consequently got back up, in disgust, and did other things for an hour or two.
Yesterday morning I was TIRED. Last night I went to bed earlier, and slept. Yay!
Oh yes, Happy Thanksgiving, Dear American Reader!
Y'all have a good day now!
So current sock project loaded, I headed off. My train arrived late, but there you are, so we hailed a taxi to get to Tate Modern while our Time Slot (you have to book to the nearest half hour) was still open.
We decided to visit Tate Modern first because other people would be turning up in larger numbers through the day. As 'twas we started at 11.30am and the other visitors weren't too crowding. By the time we'd done, there were many more of them.
Not that I begrudge them their visits, but just sometimes it's nice to be able to see things without having to peer over the heads of a crowd (which BiL and I can, thank goodness) or to be able to stand back and take in a scene.
It was good. It was in places thought provoking and concerning. It seemed to be largely based on weather and/climate with a bit of added landscape. It was FUN!
Particular highlights?
Beauty - A linear shower of fine water droplets, lit, in an otherwise dark room. The light produced rainbow effects on the curtain of droplets. Think unicorn manes!
It was interesting to see how, without fail, all the children immediately ran through the water curtain - even when told not to by parents in some cases, but none of the adults did. Some of us did put out a hand to gauge the 'strength' of the 'rain'. Believe me, Dear Reader, there were times when it was raining Far Harder outdoors!
Big Bang Fountain - another dark room, totally dark this time, somewhat disorienting, but hey! In which very brief flashes of light 'froze' the shapes of water produced by a pulsing fountain. Sort of 'jellyfish' with many variations. I thought it was beautiful. We went back for another look later on.
Your Spiral View - a raised walkway through a multi-faceted reflective tube. I passed on walking through this. The walkway was plenty wide enough but I tend to 'wander' as I walk at the best of times, and looking at all those reflections. . . Think Hall of Mirrors smashed then glued back together again as a tunnel!
There was an installation involving coloured lights at the one end (In Real Life.) This viewed through Your Spiral View was really pretty.
The Glacier Series was just worrying. As a child Eliasson had taken photos of various glaciers while on family holidays in Iceland. This summer, twenty years later, he'd returned to the same spot to photograph each glacier again. Proof if any were needed that the Icelandic Ice sheet is shrinking at a horribly fast rate.
Indeed, the Icelanders held a 'funeral' for one glacier which finally melted right away this summer past. The rate of snowfall in recent winters just hadn't been enough to counteract the melting in increasingly warm summers. Climate Change due to (man made) Global Warming.
Your Blind Passenger was, I thought, the most fun. It was a 39m long, more than 2m wide passage filled with fog made from water soluble flog fluid containing non-toxic polyols. Apparently these are much used as sweeteners in food production. The fog certainly smelled sweet.
It was also thick. People would pass, take about five steps, and vanish. Think Victorian London, but without the sound effects, warmer, and generally much better smelling!
I went through trailing a hand along one wall (see 'wandering' as I walk, above.) The adventurous could go in and either walk up the middle of the passage, or turn round a few times, get really disoriented, then try. The lighting helped here.
At the start the fog was lit with mono-colour sodium light (think orange street lights.) So you were walking through an amber-coloured mist. Then there was a patch of blue light, after which it was bright white. As BiL pointed out, it was a great way of finding out that you have 'floaters' in your eyes!
We did that twice too.
After which we decided a sit down was in order, also lunch. Pull on waterproofs and head for Vapiano. Pasta carbonara for BiL and an enormous Insalata della Casa for me. Also coffees.
Then on to the Fashion and Textile Museum for their Zandra Rhodes: Fifty Years of Fabulous exhibition, which was Really Good. Also they'd managed to set the museum thermostat so that it was comfortable inside, even upstairs. Often it is Far Too Hot. A matter on which I've commented many times.
After all, people can put on a jumper or something - we do during the winter months! Heating bills go on forever, and add tremendously to the running costs of the museum - not to mention the melting of Icelandic (and other) glaciers!
There were many, many of Zandra's outfits; for most of which she'd also designed and printed the fabrics. Her particular 'thing' as a designer is to integrate the cloth (often chiffon-weight) and pattern with the movement of the wearer. Thus producing a spectacular whole so much more than the sum of its parts.
Being inspired by Mediaeval costume.
Or
Being part of her sari-inspired collection.
There was also a display of printed lengths of chiffon - either trial pieces or pre-garment, and several costumes she designed for various Operatic productions by an American company (sorry, can't remember which.)
Namely -
Magic Flute
Fire Guard and Water Guard. I don't know Magic Flute, apart from Papagino and the Queen of the Night arias. Perhaps in consequence the Water Guard reminded me more of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz!
Also - Aida
Which I thought truly spectacular. But then, it's Opera, that is - A Spectacle.
Tongue in cheek I told Niece that I was viewing the exhibition, looking for Ideas for her wedding dress - and sent her Aida. She may have believed me.
After which we needed to sit again. We're getting old and decrepit, and BiL is seven years younger than H and me! We also needed TEA. So repaired to a nearby cafe/bar, where we sat and chatted for a while as my (less expensive) return train didn't leave Waterloo until 19:30.
And on towards the bus stop, via what had been a sail-in covered dock on the side of the Thames. It's now shops, offices etc and had interesting stalls. So we went and had a look. Only looking.
There was one stall with real gemstone jewellery, including green garnet. 'Strue. I told the stall holder about Detroitite (as mined from the paint shop floor of the old Ford Car Factory in Detroit) and suggested she Google it. She was most impressed as Google provided images of a lovely looking gemstone a lot more natural than the vividly coloured stuff we'd seen at Arundel Castle back around Easter! Suggest you try it (Googling 'Detroitite') Dear Reader.
And so to Waterloo station and, eventually, onto an entirely uncrowded train. Having caught trains from Waterloo between 16:30 and 19:00 previously and played stand-up sardines for far too long, this was a pleasant and most welcome change. The only trouble was that by the time I got home (late, having been held up by the preceding 'stopping' train. Whose bright idea was it to 'rationalise' out crossing places?) told H about my day and had a night cap, it was too late for me to drop off. Consequently got back up, in disgust, and did other things for an hour or two.
Yesterday morning I was TIRED. Last night I went to bed earlier, and slept. Yay!
Oh yes, Happy Thanksgiving, Dear American Reader!
Y'all have a good day now!