Beneath the streets of London, construction of a 73-mile-long railway line is underway. Taking place since 2009 and due to be fully completed in 2019, up to eight giant, 1,000 tonne, 150-meter-long tunneling machines having been boring their way through the subterreanean landscape, along the way unearthing mass burial grounds used in the Great Plague and other archaeological intrigues.To mark the tunneling machines' pass beneath the Barbican Estate, the Barbican Arts Centre has commissioned Pipe Dreams by Daniela Sherer, an experimental short which combines animation with live action footage of the tunnels shot by Bevis Bowden, and a soundtrack by LoneLady.
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The spooky monochrome of the tunnels starts fizzing with abstraction as Sherer's animations punctuate the eerily-lit scenes. Meanwhile the soundtrack sizzles away, making for a captivating few minutes. In the video's description, Sherer says, "Granted unique access as the final stretch of the Crossrail project’s tunnelling takes place between Liverpool Street and Farringdon, the film captures the magic of the tunnels in their present state, revealing the underground landscape and contemplating what is being created underneath our feet."
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