St. Paul's and Tate Modern Trip

On the 26th September, me and my classmates went on a trip to St. Paul's Cathedral to watch a video installation by Bill Viola. The videos were moving and spiritual and the setting within the building emphasised this. There were two videos; one entitled Mary, featuring a number of interlocking short videos of life on Earth and in nature, the other called Martyrs, a series of 4 screens each showing a person being subjected to each element - earth, wind, fire and water. I personally found Martyrs to be more moving; the energy and power behind each video was exceptional. After researching Bill Viola and falling in love with his work, I found out what he had said about Martyrs:

"As the work opens, four individuals are shown in stasis, a pause from their suffering. Gradually there is movement in each scene as an element of nature begins to disturb their stillness. Flames rain down, winds begin to lash, water cascades, and earth flies up. As the elements rage, each martyr’s resolve remains unchanged. In their most violent assault, the elements represent the darkest hour of the martyr’s passage through death into the light."


His films are like spiritual, visual poems, captivating and moving.
After viewing these works, we walked over to the Tate Modern to visit the new extension The Switch  House. I had been to the new part twice before this trip so I knew what kind of artworks were inside, but it was helpful to go with a group to get a new perspective on some of the work I'd previously seen on my own. We were asked to chose 4+ pieces we liked and produce a presentation on each work and why we liked them/answer some questions about the work. I chose 6 pieces and the presentations the following week went very well. I have since been back to the Switch House a further two times to further look at some of the work I'd liked.

I chose 6 rather different pieces at the Tate to write about and made the PowerPoint Presentation in a day, answering the necessary questions and talking about why I liked that particular piece.

I have my opinions on the new Switch House extension which I will make a separate blog post about another day, however I do believe there is some fantastic new work to see and explore. For now, I will be finding articles and reviews for the work I've selected and putting together my research.

Nelle