A Lambeth Derive

This term, I am basing my essay on the Situationists' enthusiasm for urban walks or derives, and have decided to walk from Chelsea College to the Imperial War Museum - circa 2 km - and to use modern technology, a Situationist App on my I Phone, to direct my route.

This should lead me to taking streets and pathways that I would not normally choose to take and add some element of randomness to my walk.

I started my walk/derive today from college and went to Tate Britain's room of the legendary war photographer, Don McCullin's collection of works from his long career -  this landscape is of the area where the Somme was fought, even for a landscape he finds it difficult to avoid the site of a bloody war. 

The new Migrations show had just opened and I found this Kurt Schwitters piece made while he lived in exile in Barnes, London Sw13 during the Second World War - happens to be where I live and, like me, he also picked up wood and other river debris from the Thames for his work.

Next to the college is the Morpeth Arms pub, built on the site of the Milbank Prison and still with the old cells in its basement - it has a ghost cam to try to capture images of the spirits of those prisoners who were being prepared for shipping to Australia in the 1800's.

The buttress marks the site at the head of the river steps where the prisoners embarked on their long and extremely arduous journey to Australia.

More on Henry Moore later in the walk.

This is the Government Office for London - rumoured to have a secret tunnel under the river to connect it with the MI5 building.

Vauxhall Bridge has four statues each side designed by Alfred Drury and Frederick Pomeroy - on the upstream piers are Pomeroy's Agriculture, Architecture, Engineering and Pottery, whilst on the downstream piers are Drury's Science, Fine Arts, Local Government and Education. Each statue weighs approximately two tons but they are little noticed by the majority of bridge users - you have to be on a boat or use binoculars for the river side to properly see them.

Brunswick House is the home of the reclamation company, Lassco - always worth a wander around to see what new pieces they have in - this week there are some interesting signs and posters and lots of taxidermy.

Back through Vauxhall bus station...

Started using my psycho geography app on my I-phone which suggest a random route using GPS - soon found myself outside Vauxhall City farm.

The surrounding housing estates were full of unnecessary road signs and street furniture ...

Good advice for when you are on a derive ...

The app took me along Lambeth Walk  - "The Lambeth Walk" song and street had the distinction of being the subject of a headline in The Times in October 1938.


 "While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances - to the Lambeth Walk".

One of photographer Bill Brandt's most well-known pictures is "Dancing the Lambeth Walk", originally published in 1943 in the magazine Picture Post.

I found myself outside Henry Moore sculpture studio, part of Morley College and previously the mission house.

Charlie Chaplin also live for a while near here, on the Kennington Road, hence the local mosaics in the local dance hall.

It was the coldest day of the year so far ...

Eventually, after 3 hours, arrived at the Imperial War Museum

Part of the Berlin wall now sits outside the entrance

Just as you enter, there is a piece of a window frame from the North Tower of the World Trade Centre and a show of the photos taken by Francesc Torres of Hanger 17 at JFK airport in New York, where all of the 9/11 artifacts have been documented and are held.

Excellent show by Ori Gerscht, titled This storm is what we call progress - it is interesting how much fine art now to be found in a museum about war.

Finished off at a larger Don McCullin show, called Shaped by War - its not surprising that the toll taken from all of his exposure modern warfare left him somewhat broken and in need of a new direction.