Art?

A few weeks ago a friend got in touch to ask if I was up for 'experiencing' the latest large scale art installation to grace the giant turbine hall at the Tate Modern. Having recently heard of the five slides that have been constructed in the name of art I needed little convincing that it might be an hour well spent.

According to the artist(Carsten Höller), 'the experience of sliding is best summed up in a phrase by the French writer Roger Caillois as a ‘voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind’. The slides are impressive sculptures in their own right, and you don’t have to hurtle down them to appreciate this artwork. What interests Höller, however, is both the visual spectacle of watching people sliding and the ‘inner spectacle’ experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety that you enter as you descend.'

I don't mind admitting to a little bit of 'voluptuous panic' as I entered the giant pipe! Whether or not it's art it does wonders for the prayer-life! As fun as it was to actually slide my personal highlight was watching and listening to adults and children alike gigglying and screaming excittedly as they spiralled 'artistically' downwards.

Whether you fancy sliding or not, it's well worth a visit.