StreetSurfaces #02 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 #02 Once more the artist ventures forth along the streets of the inner city, recording the arcane symbols scripted on the surfaces of roads and pavements. Exploring the marks of unknown authors, he traces those who have frequented these desperate paths. One thing is for sure, the entrance to the underworld has never been so fraught with ambiguity and misunderstanding. What do they mean, these symbols and cryptic vestiges of a forgotten language? Is it not obvious? That they aspire to act as guides to the attainment of that forbidden destination? Their semiotics are deranged or else form the basis of perverse rituals for certain secret societies, hostile to polite enquiry. The only course that remains is to launch forth in a spirit of wilful ignorance and pursue the vestiges of their compass by whatever means. The Symbol on the Street is one of a series of photographic compilations that observe the text and graphics written on the street surface in the course of digging up the roads. These photographs were taken on the streets within 1 mile of the Tate Modern, London during April 2010. I have frequented this area for the past 30 years and know its streets well. The appearance of these markings on a street is not just of academic interest - it is a chilling omen of the temporal devastation to come. Paul Malone 2010 (remastered 2014)
Pi : Borough High Street
TV : Borough High Street
T+T1 : Borough High Street
Lightning Conductor : Ayres Street
90PC : Union Street
Drop Kerb : Webber Street
3 Red Dots : Webber Street
Blue Stem circle : Webber Street
Multi BT : Blackfriars Road
N/L Approx : Blackfriars Road
From Records : Blackfriars Road
Escaping Arrow : Unknown
Lucky Cross : Southwark Street
?? : Southwark Street
2 Blue Vectors : Southwark Street
2 Blue Flyers : Marshalsea Road
23 Lost : Marshalsea Road
Orange ? : Upper Ground
2x Angles : Upper Ground
Cracked ? : Southwark Street
0.65 Yellow Nobbles : Great Suffolk Street
Yellow Portals : Ayres Street
Yellow Reversed Arrows : Southwark Street
Arrow 1+ Arrow : Ayres 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.
This book and all included images and text Š 2014 Paul Malone www.paulmalone.co.uk
He has supported his art practice since 1980 through his milk round on London’s Bankside and South Bank districts. All of the photographs in this StreetSurfaces project were taken during the course of this activity.
www.streetsurfaces.co.uk