A day trip to London

On Saturday 5^th March Andy & I visited London for the day; we managed to pick up a cheap £20 return each with London midland, despite all the changes we had to make we still made it & got to visit Tate Britain & Tate Modern.

We began our day by visiting Tate Britain to see the Susan Hiller exhibition, on the whole it wasn’t what I expected, I thought there would be more installations. There were a few pieces in the exhibition which caught my eye; 

Susan Hiller - Hand Grenades, 1972

Hiller’s Hand Grenades caught my eye initially as I thought they were light bulbs, not glass jars. I was curious to investigate further, even when I realised they were not light bulbs I was still intrigued by the ashes inside the jars.

Susan Hiller - Magic Lantern, 1987

Susan Hiller – An Entertainment, 1990

Susan Hiller – An Entertainment, 1990

Susan Hiller – An Entertainment, 1990

When entering the pitch black room of 'An Entertainment' carnival tunes were playing in the background, the four wall projection began around me, they were clips of punch and judy shows which makde me feel trapped, suddenly the happy carnival music began to feel unsettling. The laughter from the children in the videos felt haunting. The end of the films were symboled by a closing red curtain on the video.

Susan Hiller – PSI Girls, 1999

Susan Hiller – PSI Girls, 1999

Hiller's 'PSI Girls' is a five screen video projection which features imagery from films of girls with telekinetic powers. The clips featured are from;

• Brian De Palma's - The Fury, 1978
• Andrei Tarkovsky's - Stalker, 1979
• Mark L. Lester's - Firestarter, 1984
• Danny De Vito's - Matilda, 1996
• Andrew Fleming's - The Craft, 1996

The clips move around anti-closkwise, with tv static inbetween each clip, with a drumming beat in the background. The video clips are in bright colours, very popular with Hiller's work.

  

Susan Hiller - Witness, 2000

Susan Hiller - Witness, 2000

Susan Hiller - Witness, 2000

When walking through Hiller's 'Witness' I was surrounded by voices, speaking in many different languages about their encounters with UFO's or unexplainable objects/sightings. Some of the things I heard were; "and then blotches appeared on my hand" "later 9 orange disks filled the sky" "a formation appeared" I felt like I was in the sea, surrounded by jellyfish, wanting to go and listen to the voices but afraid of what I may hear.                                                                                                            After we saw the Susan Hiller exhibition we went on to look at the 'Watercolour' exhibition also on at Tate Britain. It was an exhibition which brought together a variety of artists who all use watercolour as the main medium in their work. I will admit, it wasn't my cup of tea, but there were some interesting pieces which stood out for me;

Anish Kapoor – Untitled, 1990

Edward Burra – Wake, 1940

Uwe Wittwer – Ruin, 2008

Alexander Cozens – Plate 7, 1785

Rebecca Salter – Untitled RR40, 2009

On route from Tate Britain to Tate Modern we spotted some sculptures outside Tate Britain which caught my eye. I personally think they were degree show students practicing for their degree show, however as there was no-one to ask we continued to Tate Modern. Here are a few photos of some of the sculptures we saw;

When we arrived at Tate Modern we went straight to the Gabriel Orozco exhibition, not knowing what to expect. The exhibition was right up my street! Even though I didn't know what to expect, what I saw was beyond my expectations. In my opinion there was something for everyone, there were sculptures, installations, interactive pieces and two dimensional works.

Gabriel Orozco – Elevator, 1994

Gabriel Orozco – LA DS, 1993

Gabriel Orozco – Four Bicycles (There is always One Direction), 1994

Gabriel Orozco – Chicotes, 2010

Gabriel Orozco - Carambole with Pendulum, 1996

Gabriel Orozco - Carambole with Pendulum, 1996

When I entered room 6 was amazed to see an oval pool table, it wasn’t what I expected to see. The best thing about this installation is that it was an interactive piece; viewers could grab a snooker cue and hit the white ball at the swinging red ball. It was challenging but fun for all ages … even if it did take me 3 attempts to hit the swinging red ball.

                                                                                                      After we visited the Gabriel Orozco exhibition we went up to Level 2 of Tate Modern to see a collection of work titled ‘Out of Place’. One piece that really stood out for me was Cevded Erek’s ‘Shading Monument for the artist’. I was instantly drawn to the shadows created using the lights; it was almost like a hidden message on the wall. 

Cevded Ereks - Shading Monument for the artist, 2009

Sadly our time in London was limited due to our cheap train deal, but when we next return we are intending on staying over for the weekend so we can squeeze in a show at the theatre too!!