StreetSurfaces #01 www.streetsurfaces.co.uk
an observation by Paul
Malone
About StreetSurfaces The StreetSurfaces Project was originated in 2009 and includes the area of South Central London within the environs of Tate Modern. This area encompasses my milk round. It was during the course of this activity that these photographs were taken. These documents include photographic observations of the text, symbols and graphics painted on the roads and pavements of the city streets. This lexicon is commonly ascribed to the utilities companies and their activities in the course of the digging up of the roads. However, this series of commentaries and observations attempts to cast doubt on this assertion. The uninitiated, it must be said, pass these phenomena by with little interest. But these marks represent a whole sub-strata of information and documentation communicating the hidden world beneath. Of course there are the physical structures of which we are all familiar - the drains and sewers, tube lines and utility conduits. But this is not the whole story… It would be remiss if due weight were not given to the conceptual transmutations that these narratives imply and the identity of those responsible. If you have ever wondered how things just ‘happen’ within the built environment you inhabit; then regard of these images might just give cause to question such assumptions. ‘StreetSurfaces’ is a discursive project by the artist Paul Malone as part of his Hybrasil.co.uk creative sandpit www.streetsurfaces.co.uk
StreetSurfaces #01 This document is the first in this series and consists of an general overview of the kinds of markings that can be encountered in the course of a day’s walk along London’s streets. Here we meet mostly spray painted text. In linguistic terms this is a symbolic lexicon similar to hieroglyphics but with the added ingredient of notation. Sometimes the words belie the nationalities of the writers, as their English fails and they resort to their native tongue. In recent years the symbolism has increased in sophistication with the addition of colours to denote the nature of the subterranean hazards - blue for water, yellow for gas, green for telecommunications, etc.. Sometimes the writer expresses emotions of apprehension, doubt or confusion as he attempts to plot the plutonic underworld and convey eldritch speculations to his subsequent colleagues. Rarely, one can observe in-jokes. The appearance of these markings on a street is not just of academic interest - it is an often dispiriting omen of several weeks of disruption to come.
Paul Malone 2009 (remastered 2014)
Deep Pit : Great Suffolk Street
Blue Escape : Marshalsea Road
Hidden Yellow Text Zig-Zag : Marshalsea Road
This Blue Hatch : Marshalsea Road
Eitem on Building : Unknown
W Particle : Southwark Street
Duct Blocked / Lost Signal : Great Suffolk Street
Tangential Arrows : Broadwall
Twelve Red Dots : IMAX Waterloo apron
Three Manholes : IMAX Waterloo apron
Meter 300 Vivo : Upper Ground
Surrounded by Arrows : Unknown
Caution! : Great Suffolk Street
Car Will Be Removed : Great Suffolk Street
Do Not Plane - AntiSkid : Boundary Road
LOW - OL : Great Suffolk Street
7.5PE Not Locked : Great Suffolk Street
BT No Signal : Great Suffolk Street
Poor : Unknown
KF=100 : Great Suffolk Street
Caution! No Big Zone : Great Suffolk Street
250 PE Not Located : Great Suffolk Street
Two Foos : Great Suffolk Street
Lost Sig : Great Suffolk Street
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