Saturday, November 21, 2009

Savannah railing

Pitch Walk, April 2009

Pitch Walk, 21 November 2009

Just a few weeks ago a new railing began appearing around the Savannah. There was always a railing on the north side, but most of the rest was railing-free. Now this new railing is being installed all the way around. It's not clear what the purpose is. Gaps have been left for some of the benches, and there are other small gaps for walking through and big ones to accommodate trucks.

The photos show a section of the Pitch Walk before the railing and after. Personally I prefer it before. I sat down to paint today only to find a black bar blocking my view at eye level. It's surprisingly annoying. I wonder who decided this and why.

[Countdown: Empty pages in main sketchbook = 71]

4 comments:

The bike shed said...

This has really got me thinking because my immediate reaction was that the second picture is more aesthetically pleasing.

But then I don't have the associations - and it is only one particular view point - and I suspect in life I would not like it either.

But in the picture I do... so what does that tell me about art and reality? I shall ponder.

Can you tell I studied philosophy as my first degree...

Mary Adam said...

I agree, the second photo is better as a photo. The first is over-exposed and it was taken in the dry season. But that's not the thing. Imagine looking to your right, across the railing, into the Savannah (a public park), or out of it -- this is where the railing becomes annoying and intrusive. The thing is, why is it there, what purpose is it serving? We've had no railing for at least 30 or 40 years, why do this now?

Gareth said...

This urge to wrap things up, fence them in, delineate what is the park and what isn't is fascinating. It is not even as if having the fence makes any material difference - nobody thought 'let's put up a fence to stop people stealing the park'. so it is down to appearance - somebody thought 'it would look better if...' Rather sad really.

Mary Adam said...

hi Gareth, thanks for visiting. I've found another two "before" photos, so this coming week I'll go and take the respective "after" pics and post them here. It's still a mystery why the railing was put there and I agree it's sad, that's how it makes me feel.