London! part II

From St. Paul's we walked towards the Millenium Bridge where we crossed the River Thames to get to the Tate Modern. You might remember the Millenium Bridge from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

Construction on the Millenium Bridge began in 1998 and the bridge had its opening in June 2000. However soon after its opening there was a charity walk across the bridge and participants described it as a "wobbly" experience. The bridge was then closed for nearly two years to ensure its stability. It reopened in 2002. As far as I noticed, it felt quite stable underfoot! From the Millenium Bridge you can see the London Tower Bridge... 

and a local man searching for lost treasure with a metal detector.

When we reached Bankside, we came upon the Globe Theater situated right next to the Tate Modern. The Globe Theater was originally built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was later destroyed by a fire in 1613. The theater was rebuilt at the same site a year later, but then closed in 1642. (It's kind of cool to think all of this before our country was even born, what a history!) The building you see in the photograph is a modern reconstruction of what the theater looked like; it opened in 1997 and is situated less than a mile from where the original Globe Theater was built. 

the name of the theater comes from the latin phrase, totus mundus agit histrionem--
all the world plays the actor.

The current Unilever exhibit at the Tate is by Ai WeiWei, a Chinese artist who works in sculpture, architecture, and film as well as a variety of other mediums. This piece is called Sunflower Seeds.

Here are one hundred million sunflower seeds, and though they look like actual sunflower seeds and appear to look alike, they were each individually crafted and are made of porcelain. Each one was made by specialist workers in small workshops throughout China. Originally visitors were allowed to walk on the porcelain seeds, however it was suggested that the dust that started to accumulate in and around the sculpture would be harmful to inhale, so now, looking only. 
Here's a little snippet about Ai Weiwei that I got from the informative plaque at the Tate:


Ai Weiwei merges his life and art in order to advocate both the freedoms and responsibilities of individuals. 'From a  very young age I started to sense that an individual has to set an example in society,' he has said. 'Your own acts and behavior tell the world who you are and at the same time what kind of society you think it should be.' As material for his art, he draws upon the society and politics of contemporary China as well as cultural artifacts such as ancient Neolithic vases and traditional Chinese furniture whose function and perceived value he challenges and subverts.

Visiting the Tate was so wonderful. I spent time with quite a few Francis Bacon paintings including, Figure in Landscape 1945, Seated Figure 1961, Study for Portrait on Folding Bed 1963, Triptych August 1972 1972, and Three Figures and Portrait 1975. It was great to see so many of his together as I feel it can be helpful to saturate in the work of one artist.  

this is Francis Bacon's Triptych August 1972

I was also very grateful to see several of Alberto Giacometti's sculptures. 

Giacometti's three Standing Woman, all sculpted 1958-59

Into early afternoon we left the museum (with plans to return the following day...there was so much to see!) to find a place for lunch...we ended up finding some very very tasty Thai food. 

me outside the Tate-- I love the look of those trees.

the view of St. Paul's from the Millenium Bridge.

more to come, more to come!