In Pictures: Waterside Pavilion @ Barbican Art Gallery

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 177 months ago
In Pictures: Waterside Pavilion @ Barbican Art Gallery
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Signposts pointing toward Dalston, where work by Agnes Denes and EXYZT will open in July
Signposts pointing toward Dalston, where work by Agnes Denes and EXYZT will open in July
Lister wished he hadn't let Rimmer take the controls
Lister wished he hadn't let Rimmer take the controls
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Tea for two, or more
Tea for two, or more

As part of the Radical Nature summer show, the Barbican Art Gallery has built a pavilion by the waterside. Looking not unlike a crashed, balsa-wood Starbug, the curiously titled I am so sorry. Goodbye, by Heather and Ivan Morison, takes the form of twin geodesic domes, inspired by the engagingly bonkers domes envisaged by Richard Buckminster Fuller back in the grand old heyday of mid-20th century utopianism.

While geodesic domes were born from cold war fears of nuclear annihilation and contamination — one of Buckminster Fuller's most famous designs encased the whole of central Manhattan — the Morisons' has a less sinister purpose: perhaps inspired by the ever-popular Serpentine Gallery series, the pavilion's interior is filled with chairs and tables, where you can shelter from the rays or the rain and enjoy a spot of tea.

I am so sorry. Goodbye is open from 11am - 8pm daily (6pm Weds and 10pm Thurs), until 19th October. The Barbican's Radical Nature show is open the same times, and runs until 18th October.

Last Updated 28 June 2009