Improbable
Edens
an observation by Paul
Malone
www.streetsurfaces.co.uk
Improbable Edens #01 In past catalogues I have presented the enigmatic markings of the street surface. As way of a departure; in this issue I attempt to outline some of the possible ecologies which our mysterious denizens of the underworld may well inhabit. Of course this would only be during their sojourn on the surface and in the execution of their communications. Nonetheless these habitats may convey, by a process of evolutionary deduction, something of their nature. Several attributes are observable in these locations. Firstly one is impressed by their ordinariness; of the herbiage and common trees, of shrubs and proliferating weeds, forceful in their determination to break through into the daylight. Then there is the exclusivity. Often these sectors of urbanity are heavily fenced and the gates padlocked. It is quite clear that the average citizen is not welcome in these zones. And indeed would one want to trespass! Traces of the unfortunates who dared to enter into these places can be found in profusion. Old shoes, discarded food wrappers abound, and the crude attempts at the copying of indigenous calligraphy. Their authors never to be seen again. These are indeed Improbable Edens and, as such, a rich source of anthropological diversion. More research is needed.
Paul Malone 2012
Adventure Playground : Lant Street
School Car Park : Lant Street
Tennis Court ‘Ponderland’ : Salutation Road
Footpath by Motorway : Blackwall Tunnel Approach
Garden behind Wall : ‘La Gare’ Surrey Row
Alleyway to Gardens : Redcross Way
Storage Container : Library Street
Disused Car Park : Library Street
Business Car Park : Exton Street
Black Gates : Upper Ground
Doctor’s Car Park : Paris Garden
Railway Sidings : Wardens Grove
Demolition Site : Stanford Street
Disused Courtyard : Wootton Street
Buddha : Valentine Place
Lorry Park : Boord Street
Square Grid : Cathedral Street
Round Grid : Cathedral Street
Cleft Railway Bridge : Glasshill Street
Railway Butress : Glasshill Street
Planter with Bricks : Hatfields
Gated Yard : Hatfields
Lorry Park and Gasworks: Boord Street
Mirror : Morden Wharf
Paul Malone studied sculpture at Reading University and the Royal College of Art and has since exhibited extensively in the UK and Europe. His studio is based at the Art in Perpetuity Trust in Deptford, London and his current work explores alternative, lost and forgotten scientific theories. He has supported his art practice since 1980 through his milk round on London’s Bankside and South Bank districts. This book and all included images and text Š 2014 Paul Malone www.paulmalone.co.uk
All of the photographs in this StreetSurfaces project were taken during the course of this activity.
www.streetsurfaces.co.uk