The KLF: The White Room

Track of the Week - 14 October 2018

Mrs Tea at Johnny's had to go to London for a meeting so I went with her to share the pain of a standing all the way train journey and the joy of the high temperature Central Line.

While she was doing her meeting thing I went round to the Tate Modern. I'm sure you have your own opinions on modern art so we won't go into that here apart to say some I liked, some I didn't and a lot left me nonplussed.

I was amused though to find myself in The White Room, a display in the gallery where the paintings are totally or at least mostly just white. It reminded me of The KLF song, album and film of the same name. Which considering the KLF's attempts to subvert the art world (as the K Foundation) seemed either ironic, a happy coincidence or a joke by the curator. Or all three.

Like modern art there isn't enough room to go into The KLF here. I'd recommend 'The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds' by John Higgs as an introduction to their work and thinking. And then you can go round and round the internet looking at the various theories on what they did and what they were trying to achieve.

This week's selection is the title track from their 1991 album. The song The White Room is more at the chill-out end of the group's work (I prefer their 'stadium house' efforts but this isn't about me), so a good one to bring your weekend to a close.