Even though it was a while ago, I thought I'd post a little about a visit I made to Victoria Baths. For my own memory more than anything, I thought I'd make a note on this blog. It's a super lovely beautiful building and makes me hate the Aquatic Centre lots and lots.
I took a few pics and got quite excited about the Art stuff they had got on down there at that point. They appoint artists in residence to work in response to the architecture and restoration of the baths.
The artist in residence at the time I went was Andy Wallace. This was last September just before it got all wintery in Manchester.
Visit
for more information about the place and theres a page on artists projects.
Also, here is a nice pic I took:
I thought it looked beautiful, I particularily liked that the work was made from newspaper but the scale of it made it seem so monumental and impressive.
The size of the work really made me think about the grand scale of Victoria Baths - it's absolutely massive! The square panels of newspaper reflected the tiles and the intricate structure of the ceiling. I suppose the work references the scale and size of the baths but also the fragility of the building. The newspaper could easily be ripped or damaged in time.
The baths themselves are a fine examples of Victorian Architecture but inside its a crumbling mess -with pretty bits. I can't wait to see it when the restoration is complete. I couldn't say what I prefered most, the building or the exhibition...
Oh and check out who got here before me:
I hope the buliding continues to be used by artists, but I also thought it would be an obvious place to have a music festival. I found out they used some of the spaces for tea dances and choirs.
Amazing!
But it's blatantly crying out for a gig in the swimming pool.
I'll keep you updated on opening times, I think I read there are open days every Sunday from March and guided tours on a Wednesday at 2pm starting from April 1st. Oh that will be a nice place to take Mother who is visiting on Wed.
Tra!
