The Tanks at the Tate Modern are the converted oil tanks of the former Bankside Power Station in London. They held the fuel that powered the turbines that generated electricity for a large part of the city. Here's my claim to fame... My grandfather commissioned the power station that was later to become the Tate Modern
So down in London now. I spent yesterday visiting galleries along the South Bank. An enormous amount to take in so I'll spread some of what I saw over a number of posts.
I know it is impossible to put across the impact an exhibition can have on a blog. In order to experience the full impact of this 'piece' one had to really spend some time in the room. Well actually, not a room, one of the tanks at the Tate Modern. Amazing, vast and raw spaces dedicated now to exhibitions. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/jul/01/tanks-tate-modern-review.
The exhibition is by William Kentridge and is called 'I am not me, the horse is not mine'. Haven't completely got to the bottom of why he is exploring 'the formal inventiveness of Russian modernism and the calamitous fate of the Russian avant-garde...' with traditional South African music interspersed with the main soundtrack ... Is he applying this to modern day South Africa?
' His work tracks a personal route across the fraught legacy of apartheid and colonialism through an innovative use of charcoal drawing, prints, collages, stop-animation, film and theatre'.
Here is an earlier video by William Kentridge that gives you a feel of the 8 videos that were running simultaneously on show in the tanks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63nfCe6RZ-g&feature=related
Visually, aurally and atmospherically this was amazing. Here are some stills of the eight videos that were running simultaneously.
Here is an interesting clip of William Kentridge talking about an aspect of his work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=Radzm-Yo4BA
