I got to do something unique a recently on Friday October 23rd; I went to see an exhibition of modern at by Conrad Shawcross in an unused tram tunnel in central London; I went with a friend Emily who is an artist and quite familiar with the of works Conrad Shawcross. The tram tunnel was part of London's only tram line that was in use from 1906 to 1952. I have walked past this tunnel entrance in the past and was kind of curious what it was - now I know.
This tunnel has been used for movie sets. In some of the photos, you can see the London underground symbol that would have been put up there for a movie shoot.
We were told not to touch the walls of the tunnel as there was a good fifties years of grime on them. Otherwise, the tunnels were remarkably tidy. The location has been used for storage.
The art piece we saw is called "Chord"; it was is marvellous contraption that is making rope. We were not permitted to take photos of it but you can see a photo of the rope making machine here:
We were only allowed half an hour in the space as people were only let in groups of 20 at a time and the tickets are booked over the internet (it was free to get tickets). It would have been good to be able to spend an hour or two down there with some tea in thermos and just contemplate Chord as it went about making rope. It was an excellent installation to see; it touched on many things: the underground part of a city one normally does not get to see; the manufacture and creation of fantastic machines; a history lesson; observing an action with a temporal quality and art.