Olafur Eliasson at the Tate Modern
Jul. 23rd, 2019 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julietL has now reached the age where if I say "Do you want to come with me to...?" he says Yes, enthusiastically, without asking any more about it (I am choosing to take this as an indication that my previous suggestions have largely hit the spot so he now trusts me, rather than as an indication that he has no discernment), so yesterday morning we went off to see the Olafur Eliasson exhibition currently on at the Tate. (He was responsible for 'The Weather Project', still my favourite ever Turbine Hall installation.)
It's very kid-friendly, and they give children a little booklet with questions to ask themselves about some of the works.
Probably our favourite was 'Beauty' (mist falling in a darkened room, with a spotlight on it = RAINBOWS). Interestingly, whilst you are allowed to interact with it, and the kids' book suggests that you do so (so we did!) none of the adults present did, even after L and I had done so. L was fascinated by the mist forming into water droplets on his hand. (and also, RAINBOWS).
'Din Blinde Pasagar' is a fog tunnel, something like 30 metres long, I think? You can see a little way ahead and a little way behind, and the lights change colour. We weren't super impressed; I preferred Antony Gormley's fog box ('Blind Light', which I saw in London ages ago) for being weird and disorientating. This didn't have the same scope for confusion, due to being less foggy and narrower.
L liked the moss wall (a wall of reindeer moss!); I found it a bit trippy, because moss and lichen are fundamentally a bit trippy as soon as you start looking at them closely.
'Big Bang Fountain' is a fountain in a pitch-black room (until the arsehole next to me turned on his phone light to get a photo of it, and then KEPT DOING SO, REPEATEDLY) with a flash at intervals, illuminating the cool shapes the fountain makes. I could have spent ages in there, easily (although there was a queue, so we didn't). Outside that room was 'Your Uncertain Shadow', which has multiple strong lights casting coloured shadows. L adored it (as did every other child who went through it, because jumping around making multiple coloured shadows of yourself is FUN).
'The River-Raft Series' is a series of photos taken from a raft, which I'd have liked to spend longer with (but L was getting antsy); we've agreed that we'll go back in the autumn to look at the 'Glacier Series', as Eliasson has taken a bunch of photos this year to add to this set of photos from 1999. (I imagine it will be depressing :( ).
Right at the end is a place where you can sit and play with a construction toy and build interesting shapes, which was also a big hit with L and every other child. (Not to mention the grownups, although I nobly gave up my seat for a kid and went looking at all the interesting stuff on the walls instead; which was nice as that's usually the sort of thing I absolutely don't get to see if I'm somewhere with L.)
Would have been worth the ticket price if we'd paid it (I'm a Tate member and kids go free). I'd happily go back again, too.
It's very kid-friendly, and they give children a little booklet with questions to ask themselves about some of the works.
Probably our favourite was 'Beauty' (mist falling in a darkened room, with a spotlight on it = RAINBOWS). Interestingly, whilst you are allowed to interact with it, and the kids' book suggests that you do so (so we did!) none of the adults present did, even after L and I had done so. L was fascinated by the mist forming into water droplets on his hand. (and also, RAINBOWS).
'Din Blinde Pasagar' is a fog tunnel, something like 30 metres long, I think? You can see a little way ahead and a little way behind, and the lights change colour. We weren't super impressed; I preferred Antony Gormley's fog box ('Blind Light', which I saw in London ages ago) for being weird and disorientating. This didn't have the same scope for confusion, due to being less foggy and narrower.
L liked the moss wall (a wall of reindeer moss!); I found it a bit trippy, because moss and lichen are fundamentally a bit trippy as soon as you start looking at them closely.
'Big Bang Fountain' is a fountain in a pitch-black room (until the arsehole next to me turned on his phone light to get a photo of it, and then KEPT DOING SO, REPEATEDLY) with a flash at intervals, illuminating the cool shapes the fountain makes. I could have spent ages in there, easily (although there was a queue, so we didn't). Outside that room was 'Your Uncertain Shadow', which has multiple strong lights casting coloured shadows. L adored it (as did every other child who went through it, because jumping around making multiple coloured shadows of yourself is FUN).
'The River-Raft Series' is a series of photos taken from a raft, which I'd have liked to spend longer with (but L was getting antsy); we've agreed that we'll go back in the autumn to look at the 'Glacier Series', as Eliasson has taken a bunch of photos this year to add to this set of photos from 1999. (I imagine it will be depressing :( ).
Right at the end is a place where you can sit and play with a construction toy and build interesting shapes, which was also a big hit with L and every other child. (Not to mention the grownups, although I nobly gave up my seat for a kid and went looking at all the interesting stuff on the walls instead; which was nice as that's usually the sort of thing I absolutely don't get to see if I'm somewhere with L.)
Would have been worth the ticket price if we'd paid it (I'm a Tate member and kids go free). I'd happily go back again, too.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-23 09:37 pm (UTC)