S. Worthen | Weblog

The last time I was under this building, it was the Millennium Dome. In between, it was the government's own white elephant. Now it's reborn as the commercial entertainment complex, The O2. The arena is meant to be a good performance venue. The circumscribing aisles are redone in the American mall village main street. There are trees within. There aren't enough obvious restrooms. There's an 11-screen cinema and a smaller music venue. There is all the convenience and baggage of a site built for the millennial celebrations.

All afternoon, its large open spaces were occupied with street theater as part of the Greenwich+Docklands Festival. (The afternoon's event was named "Out of the Blue".) The soaring butterfly/blimp shown here - Aeroplume - isn't suspended by wires. He's flying his helium-filled blimp over the crowds, steering with his wings.