Day 10 - Tate Modern

Off to the Tate Modern. I catch the "159 to Streatham". I'm not going to Streatham - according to a friend there's nothing there. I get a lot of good snaps from the top of the bus, including one of a busy bureaucrat near Big Ben who could be ducking out for lunch - and riding so fast that I only just snap him. Where do you think he's going?

My walk to the Tate Modern takes longer than anticipated - after strolling along the Thames for 15 minutes I discover I've been walking in the wrong direction. However I'm afforded magnificent views of Westminster Palace (Parliament has met here since the 13th century, although most of the original complex was destroyed by various fires). Is this one of architectural wonders of the world?

Forty minutes later the brick prism of my destination looms. With all the effort it takes me to reach it, and knowing it is regarded as one of the world's preeminent galleries, will it live up to its reputation?

I'm not disappointed. This is no mere tick off box for tourists. After entering the massive vaulted "lobby" I am confronted with a giant screen at its extremity. Various images from nature are displayed with several orbs superimposed. Do these orbs represent souls? Are they will-o'-the-wisps? Below me, (only about 25 metres below!) patrons sit and watch the changing images. The rest of the cavern is shrouded in darkness. The projection of images in confined - or in this case supermassive - spaces, is a preoccupation of postmodern installation art. The gallery is housed in a former power station, making the choice of place an artistic decision in itself.

But don't think grandiose imaginings set in a tranquil void where the self is locked in a paradox of peristasis is all you'll find here. Let your mind roam, ascend a few levels to dreamland. The works in this gallery base themselves on Freud's discoveries of the unconscious. Let your mind discourse with Dali's broken phone, see a late artistic tantrum by the once potent Picasso, explore the subtleties Joan Miro.

Budding artists will be inspired, especially if you're interested in spontaneous creation, automatic writing/drawing, dream symbolism, cubism, dada and dark desire.

For a more contemporary fix ascend the stairs further where the current exhibition takes energy as its theme. An American artist is filmed on a dodgy phone camera kicking a bucket around the streets at night - can your eyes handle it? An artist of Lebanese origin has collected objects dear to survivors of the Lebanese Civil War, and interviewed these survivors to establish just why these objects - a radio, a photo, for example - are so precious. I particularly liked the polyester staircase reminiscent of Schroder's effect by a Chinese artist - the installion delicately hanging from the ceiling.

I wanted to linger longer although the intensity is fatiguing even with the espresso I downed half an hour earlier. Besides, I have an appointment with one of Highgate Cemetery's Gatekeepers!