Punctuated by Cycles

In October 2009 I was given an hour slot on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Anthony Gormley’s One & Other, a year on and the book of the project was being launched at the Wellcome Collection

I was curious to see some of the other people who had taken part and the Wellcome Collection had intrigued me for some time so decided to make a day of it. 2010 was further year of reclamation & excavation for me – reclaiming things I had loved doing but somehow lost the knack of and excavating, well, myself. One of the things I’d lost the knack of was getting to London to see plays, exhibitions, meet friends, walking through the changing cityscape and exploring. There is something wonderful about having a day to fill your mind and heart with the industry and creativity to be found in a busy city and the day couldn’t have been better, bright with just a slight edge on the air.

There has been much press coverage given to the rise in obesity and until a year ago, I had fallen into that category, I had lost the joy in movement and the fun of dressing up. At the moment, I’m still a work in progress but I’m on the way to renewed fitness and one of the things that helped has been taking up cycling. Londoners have also caught the cycling bug, perhaps I was in the frame of mind to notice, but my walk that day did seem to be punctuated by bicycles.

A grid of shadow, an island of rest

By road & rail

A fragmentation

A gathering

I really wanted to walk across the floor covered with hand painted ceramic sunflower seeds in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, I wanted to feel them falling through my fingers, but alas, the floor was cordoned off. They were worried about the dust, the danger to people's lungs but I'm sure it would have been far too tempting for far too many people - could you resist scooping them up and carrying them off? They were very beautiful and highly desirable. The security guard told me that the seeds had been weighed and that Ai Weiwei knew exactly how many should be there, I imagine that it must be hard to picture such a sea as a number - The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei

Containment

Captives

Almost abandoned

Tryst

We are all brief pinpoints of light

Navigation, Signage and the Wonderful Jock Kinneir & Margaret Calvert

A few weeks ago I found myself driving to London, I’ve made the journey before but hadn’t driven there myself, for quite some time. At the end of the M1 my heart always starts to beat a little faster, will I remember to get in the right lane, will I come off at the right exit, will they have moved the Edgeware Rd, will I find my way to Vauxhall Bridge? It was the end of a scorching day, the motorway was a clear and beautiful space to drive on (after Luton), Map Man was beside me navigating – he doesn’t like parties, is not too keen on London, he was hot and a bit fractious.

The last time we’d been on this route, he had been driving and my Dad and I (both used to the route but not quite paying attention) were being hopeless navigators, there was a detour, which took us onto Abbey Rd – Map Man was really getting pretty frantic, we were lost, we would be late and Miles & Miles weren’t helping at all, eventually he gave us up for a bad job and got out his compass, yes, the old fashioned kind not Sat Nav and we did eventually get to where we were going.

My hopelessness with maps was the reason I was designated driver on our most recent trip, almost time to leave the motorway and Map Man was getting agitated, my instincts and prior knowledge (which I should have trusted) told me to go one way, he was directing me elsewhere (Golders Green, to be precise). Map Man loves maps, understands where he is in relation to physical world and paper representation of world, I navigate by landmark, if I’ve seen it, I’ll remember it. I was swayed as things were looking a bit unfamiliar.......

Having taken the wrong exit, it was quite hard to turn off or turn round, so an unguided tour of familiar sounding places like Highgate, Primrose hill, Camden Town etc ensued, we seemed to be travelling across London in a series of circles and the maps weren’t really helping. I tried to reassure my companion that the rules of navigation by map didn’t really apply in the city, things were apt to change, there may be diversions or direction changes, signs were likely to disappear for long stretches of time but most things tended to reconnect to somewhere familiar at some point, you just had to take a kind of leap of faith. Staying calm also helps, even when some other lost soul is driving towards you the wrong way in your own lane.

Finally we found the Thames and a bit later, Vauxhall Bridge – I almost wept for joy. I recognised a section of wall, some buildings, a roundabout, it’s a bit of a hit and miss way of getting around, but it generally works for me! I think I would probably fare better with the medieval maps Jo described a few entries ago, the ones with the small illustrations of landmarks, today, Street View is very helpful to a ‘by sight’ navigator like me.

What the journey did make me think about was the signage we have on our roads, designed by Jock Kinneir & Margaret Calvert in 1958. They are so part of our everyday that we probably no longer register just what marvels of graphic design they are and how simply and effectively they manage to direct us on our travels, how great they still look and how grateful I felt every time a sign appeared that confirmed I was still heading in the right direction or at least towards somewhere I recognised.

Quote from

(weblink) "JOCK KINNEIR + MARGARET CALVERT Graphic Designers (1917-1994) + (1936-) Designing Modern Britain - Design Museum"

“It is sad but true to say that most of us take our surroundings for granted,” Kinneir observed in 1965. “Direction signs and street names, for instance, are as vital as a drop of oil in an engine, without which the moving parts would seize up; one can picture the effect of the removal of this category of information on drivers in a busy city or on pedestrians trying to find their way in a large building complex. It is a need which has bred a sub-division of graphic design with more influence on the appearance of our surroundings than any other.”

I love the fact that Margaret Calvert designed the typefaces (web links below)

"Transport"

"Rail Alphabet"

"New Rail Alphabet"

to help us on our way.