D7

By JILL LAWLESS
The Associated Press

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LONDON - Visitors to the Tate Modern gallery are about to face an apocalyptic vision of London partly inspired by the Second World War Blitz and the July 7, 2005, transit bombings.

French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster has transformed the gallery's vast Turbine Hall into a shelter for residents fleeing floods and endless rain in an imagined London 50 years from now.

Her installation Th.2058, unveiled to the media Monday, centres on 200 metal bunk bed frames. The sound of rainfall can be heard while images from science-fiction films such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers play. Dystopian books by H.G. Wells, J.G. Ballard and Ray Bradbury lie atop the beds.

Gonzalez-Foerster said she was interested in using science fiction "as a tool to see the present."

The artist said she was inspired by attacks imaginary and real.

The work is on display from Tuesday until April 13.