The process of discovery is a magical one. In this world of constant information, availability anxiety and relentless demand- the art of wandering I think becomes more and more important for the human spirit. I’ve been searching a bit for my spirit, as if brought back from the dead and then thrashed around, and I found that the guide is in my heart. To lead with wonder and to keep that wonder alive- it’s that which the spirit needs the most to survive.
I’ve been to the Tate Modern a couple times now and I really swear I had seen it all. The best analogy is where you let your nose lead you to the smell of something perhaps so delicious, causing various emotions to rise- there’s no other sense that quite explains this process of discovery. Just led by curiosity and the unknown, allowing randomness to be like the nose and to discover that which is completely unplanned.
I had no idea there was an entire section of this building I had never been to before. In fact – 2 sections. We’ll start with the Tanks which sits below what I now understand to be called the Switch House. We ended up there because our tickets for the Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms were canceled due to an issue with the exhibit and we needed to visit the ticket center to get a refund which was on the bottom most floor. (We end up switching for tickets to Hilma af Klint exhibit which was possibly better.) The others had walked away and in looking for them, we ended up in the Tanks.
Like Printworks or Battersea Power Station, the scale of these reinvented industrial behemoth of buildings like the Tate Modern is the main point to note. Discovering these lower entrance galleries – I couldn’t believe their size. I insisted to myself to walk the entire length to swim in the disbelief of just how big these spaces were. Like- jfc, this one single space is so vast and the structural engineering involved to all this continguous space to exist.
As we spiraled up the staircase, rising up from the Tanks, next up was the another section of this old industrial building called the Switch House that reminded me very much of the De Young. In common with the Turbine section of the building, the height of the open spaces was was vast and impressive. I didn’t have the opportunity to explore the gallery spaces in this new section- though it seemed largely community or event spaces rather than gallery area.
Unique to the Tate Modern is way finding via building section instead of floor plan- I think navigation by floor plan indeed would be more confusing though would be an intellectual exercise to see the floor plans. I loved the textures of the light and concrete patterns that balanced the massive swaths of concrete dominating the domain of the space.
From the Switch house, we crossed over the bridge to view the Turbine space and into the collection spaces. We view the Hilma af Klint exhibit mentioned above and also the Artists Room: Art and Text where “I am the curator of my own misery.” stood out to me since 1) in an art museum everything is curated carefully and 2) meaning that I have chosen my own misery like the art in this gallery. Still lingers in the darkness of my mind.
And of course, the requisite shots of the exterior (taken separately at 6am on a Sunday when I had it all to my own) and the view from the “Kitchen and Bar”. Please, please take a moment and stop for refreshment sitting at the long bar facing out- it’s an extraordinary accomplishment this building- and it’s charter- and no better way than to honor that than taking a moment to sit and let is absorb into your soul while you look out at the skyline of St. Paul’s cathedral.
Free to all, the Tate Modern holds many memories for me. Over the course of many decades, I would say that out of any building- the Tate Modern has probably threaded through my relationship with London the most. I’ll be curious on my next visit, where this building will help to mark me on this life of, hopefully still, wonder and curiosity.
Address: Bankside, London SE1 9TG, United Kingdom
Website: ArchDaily Write up: Tate Modern Switch House
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