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Public Display

29/8/2011

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Channel 4 Building, London, UK
The building for the UK TV station, Channel 4, is one of my favourite buildings in London. Located on Horseferry Road, near Victoria, I used to walk by it often when I lived in the area a number of years ago.

I decided to visit the area recently – in order to re-visit some of my favourite buildings in the area – and found that there was an interesting art installation outside the main entrance. There were a few spray cans with skeletons inside them and rubble around the cans. 

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One of my – rather ongoing – projects is about graffiti, and this public art display caught my eye. I did wonder what the meaning of it was, particularly when there was a note on the floor with #stoppoliccuts …
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I am not sure who the artist is or artists are, but it did challenge my initial thoughts that it was faintly supporting street art. Perhaps it was a statement about urban decay and declined, with the bones inside the spray cans …
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The spray cans were possibly symbolising a certain disrespect rather than artistic expression. Graffiti is nothing new, but opinion about it is somewhat polarised between the art and wanton defacing. There is a fine line between the two.

I did feel, however, that the note with #stoppolicecuts was somewhat poignant in light of the riots in England; although, I am not sure when this installation was set up so am not sure whether it was in response to this. What was a legitimate, and peaceful, protest in regards to policing in one of the most deprived areas in London, if not England, turned into wanton disrespect to other people’s property and livelihoods.

I did have a quick look on Twitter to see if anyone had tweeted #stoppolicecuts, and no one really had. I did wonder how effective the statement was.

What I took away from the installation was the fine line between what is perceived to be acceptable and unacceptable – whether it’s expression, art or social norms - is very fine, if not very ambiguous. 
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Looting London

14/8/2011

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Picture
Crystal Palace, London, UK
The looting and violence in London, and elsewhere in England, in the last week or so shocked many and raised fundamental questions about British society and the reasons why people did it.

I found it surreal to be out during the day in areas of London which were fairly unaffected, but to be watching the devastating effects of the violence and looting on the news at night. Even my local shops in south east London were closing early and locking down in order to protect themselves. A handful of shops were even targeted in my local area, and the violence in Croydon hit very close to home.

While much of the violence hurts the very fabric of local communities, the boarded up and burnt buildings – both residential and commercial - are a physical reminder of the trauma that happened in the riots.

In the aftermath, I did wander around my local area as well as Clapham to see the damage for myself. The initial clean-up had obviously taken place, and the police were more visible on the street.

However, I found it interested to see how the boarded up windows had become a vehicle for the communities to communicate – whether to say that businesses were still open for business ... 

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Crystal Palace, London, UK
Or messages of support...
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Clapham, London, UK
While many have lost much, or even everything, there seems a bit of community defiance at the damage that has happened. Simply writing on a wall with a pen to share ones feelings. And in Clapham, people stopped and read what was being written. 
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    Author

    Heather Martin is a London based photographer who specialises in architectural, event and B&W film photography.

    For more info, please to the About page.

    **Heather Martin owns the copyright to all the photographs and text within this blog, unless otherwise stated.

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