StreetSurfaces #04 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 #04 Yet again, 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. As these catalogues progress it is becoming obvious that these markings parallel those of cosmological origin. It is not so much an attempt to accurately describe the terrain of what lies underneath, as to mirror the patterns and narratives of the night sky in a metaphorical way. Heaven on Earth - if you like‌ This catalogue is an attempt to enter into this territory. Though this is at first a tentative and equivocal sketching out, it implies a positive arena of speculation for further study. 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 2013
Ephnt : Westminster Bridge Roundabout
Old Pot : Union Street
Cracked Auroras : Borough High Street
Devil’s Pitchfork : Marshalsea Road
BT Inverted : Webber Street
Red Route Inverted : Blackfriars Road
Mandala : Unknown
Survey Point : Southwark Street
No Try : Sumner Street
Numbers at Give Way : Webber Street
CAP : Ayres Street
AR : Unknown
4P Red Lines : Southwark Street
SS Yellow X : Southwark Bridge Road
Red Point : Southwark Street
Running Snags : Southwark Bridge Road
Green Curved Arrow : Webber Street
4 Red Dots : Valentines Place
Small Ochre Arrows Tangent : Valentines Place
Vector to Where? : Valentines Place
Blue Square : Boundary Row
TW Square : Boundary Row
Void in the Wall : Ayres Street
Orange Corner : Webber 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