Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
Greenwich Foot Tunnel, London
14 October – 25 November
Reviewed by: Kelly O'Reilly
The unnerving thing about ‘Underground’, curated by Sue Cohen for Occupy my Time, is not so much that it is underground, but that it is underwater as well. It is presented in the unlikely space of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which runs for 1,217 feet under the Thames to create a surreal shortcut between Greenwich and Island Gardens.
After the formal beauty and classic views of Greenwich, descending to this strange sub-aqueous space can be an eerie experience at the best of times. ‘Underground’ makes full use of the strange sightlines and suspended reality of the space to present a group exhibition that looks at the idea of the journey as something that both explores and withdraws from the overlaps between time, memory and location.
I started my journey at Island Gardens and my introduction to the exhibition was an ear-piercing siren that shattered my quiet contemplation of Wren’s Royal Naval College on the opposite side of the Thames. Raimi Gbadamosi’s sound installation, Tunnelling by Numbers, is unnerving enough to make you think twice about descending to the tunnel – although the panicked expression in triplicate of the cyclists emerging from the lift is a sight not to be missed.
The lifts at the foot tunnel are another experience in themselves: with their dark wood panelling and cheery attendants, they are like stepping back into another era. In Clock Collector, Lucy Steggal plays initially to this atmosphere of Edwardian drawing room gentility by installing a grandfather clock in the corner of the lift. By randomly piling further clocks inside, however, she subverts the careful calibrations of Greenwich Mean Time, which become suspended, condensed, elongated and dispensed with as the lift descends.
Once in the tunnel itself, all pretence at Merchant Ivory cosiness vanishes as the gradual descent under the Thames begins. The tunnel roof presses down and a sense of endlessness is suggested by the vanishing point of the tunnel’s straight line. Disconcertingly, there is a constant dripping overhead, which is not a comforting thought at all when I think of the weight of Thames water hanging over me.
Watching the passage of water down the grimy white-tiles walls (apparently there are 2,000,000 tiles lining the tunnel) I notice a series of unpleasantly fungal protuberances. These turn out to be plaster-cast ears – part of Sue Cohen’s installation If Walls Have Ears. Spread out along the length of the tunnel these ears highlight the exaggerated acoustics of the space: sound is amplified to the point where each footfall, each drip, becomes a resounding and potentially terrifying experience.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, however – this time in the form of a projection. Alia Syed’s site-specific piece records the changing light across the Woolwich ferry as it traverses the Thames. Focusing on another of London’s unusual Thames crossings, Syed’s beautifully impressionistic film is constantly modulated by the rhythm, texture and shadows of the ferry and its passengers.
In the lift at the opposite end, Tanya Syed’s ethereal DVD projection of a tiny dancing figure is perfectly framed by an Edwardian hatbox, which in turn is framed by the old-fashioned ambience of the lift. Contrasting with the more prosaic presence of the tabloid-reading lift attendant, Incantation’s fusion of dance, performance and film creates an intriguing dynamic within a space full of strangers trying not to encroach on one another’s body space.
This reminder that the near out-of-body experience of being under the river is at an end seems to be reinforced by Mark Bell’s paintings of calming, organic shapes that greet my exit from the lift. The opulent orderliness of Greenwich is both exaggerated and undercut, however, by the obsessive sound of counting overhead: it is Raimi Gbadamosi’s soundpiece again, as it marks both the start and finish of my journey.
Writer detail:
Kelly O’Reilly is curator of the Stephen Lawrence Gallery at the University of
Greenwich.
Venue detail:
OCCUPY MY TIME
, London
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