The Barbican Centre is a must do. Conor, my old flatmate had spent an afternoon there and his rave reviews made me plan a trip ASAP.
I had a quick scan in the website and within minutes saw an interesting exhibition called United Visual Artists: Momentum. It’s in the Curve, a 90-metre promenade and one of London’s most unique exhibition venues. We waited in line, eager to see what lay behind the heavy black out curtains and it was worth the wait!
Momentum hits your senses like a ton of bricks. Twelve pendulums activate light and sound, drawing attention to the arc shape of the walkway. Most of the time you move along the space in ghostly darkness with the shadows of the 49 other visitors allowed in the space close by. Some sit on the ground hypnotised by the rythmyic, musical swinging orbs. Others amble through disappearing into the darkness ahead. Sense of time slows down. To me it had the feel of the movie ‘Moon’ or a planetary system almost within reach. The longer I stayed in the space, the more I liked it. I became bolder, venturing further into the darkness, chasing spotlights with friends to take pictures or standing still, mesmerised by the whirring swinging orbs, spotlights and beams of sudden light. Space and time seemed distant concepts.