TWP: Tate Modern

Dylan and Spencer went to Tate Modern. Here is Dylan's write up:

Tate Modern is arguably one of the most prominent landmarks in Bankside, as it is housed in the former Bankside Power Station. Spencer and I met up there, as I have always had an interest in modern art and Spencer said it related to his minor. The building is huge, and one third of it is currently not in use as EDF Energy just released the property in 2006. We really enjoyed the museum, and were disappointed we had to leave for dinner before we got to go through every exhibit.

One room in particular I found interesting was called the Joseph Beuys room. This artist worked primarily with large installations of symbolic objects, including my favorite piece, “Lightning with Stag in its Glare.” The clods of copper on the floor, what Spencer and I thought were feces, represented primordial creatures. A bronze triangle symbolized lightning reaching down from the heavens, illuminating half-formed creatures. There was also a small compass on a box, which represented the natural energies of the Earth. This piece was an example of art that you can’t see anywhere else but a modern art museum. It was so abstract and different that in a room full of weird, it caught my eye. I enjoyed looking at the installation, although I wouldn’t have had any idea what it was about without the description.

The other exhibit I particularly enjoyed was a room filled with John Heartfield’s anti-Nazi propaganda. It is said Heartfield was one of the first to invent the photomontage, a method of cutting out and pasting other pictures together. I really liked this exhibit because this communist supporter used laughter as a devastating weapon to point out the fallacies in the Nazi’s logic, and he was good at it. One picture was Hitler preaching, except you could see inside of him and his backbone was made out of coins. As I walked around the room that was filled with dozens of pictures, I grew to respect this man who publicly denounced the wartime hate and lies that the Nazis created. His pictures are so witty and relevant, even today, that they deserve to be displayed in a modern art museum.

I loved going to Tate Modern. It expanded my view of what art can be, and definitely made me think about what some pieces meant. I also liked the contrast of the hustle and bustle right outside of the museum in South London and the peaceful silence of the appreciative on the inside. This trip made going to see modern art galleries a main priority of mine once I get home.