The Jetpacker

The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian-only suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames, linking St. Paul’s Cathedral to the north and Tate Modern to the south.

The bridge, which opened in 2000, is like a mannequin: it’s more about purpose than substance.  It’s a bland construction that serves as an easy way to get to the Tate Modern from the opposite side of the Thames.

As we crossed the bridge, we couldn’t help but wonder why the Tate Modern looked so… dull.  This tall, brick building with a large smoke stack resembles an old cookie factory more than a contemporary art museum.  (Turns out it was actually an old oil-fired power station.)

But once we stepped into the 3,400-square-foot Turbine Hall, the feeling that we were walking into an over-sized food factory evaporated.  The hall itself looked like a futuristic and minimalist blimp hanger, but the real attraction was the massive, apocalyptic spider-like beasts peering over the second floor balconies.

Designed by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, “TH.2058″ depicts two mega-sculptures: one a freakishly detailed, monstrous creature, the other an angular, bright red, robotic type of being. (This temporary exhibition closed in April of 2009, but the Turbine Hall will feature a new work later in the year.)

Some of the Turbine Halls’ past exhibitions have included altering its “weather”, forming a giant crack that spanned the length of the Hall (it even injured a few people who tripped over it), and, my personal favorite, installing usable slides that connected the various levels of the museum to the ground floor.  You can check out what’s being featured in the Turbine Hall during your visit here.

As a precursor to a multi-hour tour of the Tate Modern, the Turbine Hall certainly whet our appetite for the provocative and the unusual.  And the permanent exhibits fully satiated us.  It was a lot to digest, and some of it was hard to keep down (like the sexually explicit photographs and videos that looked like something out of the movie “Hostel”), but the overall experience was fulfilling.

Level 3 features an abstract and expressionist gallery with work by Monet and Rothko called “Material Gestures” as well as a section called “Poetry and Dream” featuring the aforementioned graphic exhibit with a title that’s understood in any language: “le cock et le balls.”

Level 5 contains the “Energy And Process” exhibit which focuses on Arte Povera, a radical and unconventional style of art that encapsulates the social upheaval in 1960′s Italy.  There’s also the “States Of Flux” exhibit, focusing on cubism, futurism and pop art with artwork by Picasso and Warhol.

Unfortunately, we have no pictures to share of some of these amazing works because you can’t take pictures inside the galleries.  So you’ll just have to see it for yourself.  The best part is, Levels 1 (The Turbine Hall), 3 and 5 are completely free!  (Levels 2 and 4 display temporary exhibitions you have to pay for.)

Get more information on the official site of the Tate Modern here.