The Serpentine Gallery are putting on an exhibition of Chinese art inside Battersea Power Station this month and we went along this afternoon to have a look. I’ll pass giving any judgement on the art for now – we (and, at a guess, the majority of the other few hundred visitors) were there for the chance to see this great building up close. I see the power station daily yet it remains distant and enigmatic, flanked by hordings on three sides and moated on the fourth by the Thames. We were guided through the dark, damp and derelict floors of the old turbine hall, looking beyond the bizarre art installations, and tried to understand the building’s past (and future). It’s an interesting place – with old signs warning of high voltage jostling for attention alongside newer signs warning of falling masonry.
Unfortunately photos inside the building were not allowed; the cynic in me wondered whether the developers were worried that people’s photos could affect the forthcoming coffee table book.
EDIT: A quick peruse through Flickr reveals some excellent covert shots of the sort that might well make it to said glossy coffee table book. And it looks like some discreet snapping was occuring during the art tours.
Or the developers are prefer not to undermine the effect of those bright images of the future on the hoardings. (I have to admit that I was quite taken by the one of the double-bass player in front of a wall of uber-retro dials and switches.)
Do you mean like this little lot? We saw nothing like that on our strictly controlled tour, I’m sad to say.