I've been in London for about three months now and I have been to the Tate Modern about 25 times. I don't know how. I somehow always end up going. If not going inside to look at some of the pieces, I go just to sit at the outside patio area. Staring at the massive museum. The Tate Modern looks odd from the outside. It's big and dark brown. A huge pillar rises into the sky that's noticeable from the other side of the Thames. I didn't like it at first. But if I've learned one thing here studying abroad, it's to think more critically about the ways in which we utilize the past to tell stories about the present and the future.
The building that is now the Tate Modern used to be the Bankside Power Station. It opened in 1891 and, if we know anything about the history of London, the city was pretty dirty then. I can imagine this building then. It's brown-ness probably bled right into the pollution that undoubtedly surrounded it. Smoke would billow from the power station's chimney to the point where citizens would complain about it.
And, throughout the building history as the Bankside Power Station, the grit and grime it caused was a source of controversy. After some evolutions and attempts to clean up the station and the area around it, the building was officially shut down right before the 80s. In '94, it was announced that the building would be recycled to be the new home for Tate Modern, and the rest is history.
I didn't know about this history until this week. And it helped me understand why Tate Modern is so special to the city. The story of the building itself is almost like the story of London. What once stood for the industrial and the polluted now stands as a symbol for our present and our future. It shows us that art surrounds us and so does history.
I only have a couple of weeks left, but I want to take in all of London in the same way I take in Tate Modern. It makes me feel more connected with the city. And when I return to DC, I'll tried to spend my last semester thinking more critically of all the art that surrounds me while I can.