Archive for June, 2010
One piece by the bridge at Stockbridge
By the time we got there the red bikini was off. But the naked body in the water was discreetly half hidden by foliage. A couple pass by not quite sure what to make of it, “Look,” says the woman, “there’s someone in the water.” Which would Gormley prefer, I wonder, the innocent reaction of passers by or the red bikini cover up?
It was a pity we missed the bikini. Apparently the Metro managed to snap it and I am not sure which is funnier: the thought of someone going to the trouble to attach a bikini to Antony Gormley’s (obviously masculine) work of art, or the effort someone else took to remove it. Would that be the new art wardens of Edinburgh?
Whatever. Gormley’s six pieces are a gift. As blogged by Ray a few weeks ago they stretch from the Modern Art Gallery down to Leith Docks, marking the rise and fall of the water. It is a treat to discover them one by one – our Sunday morning walk through cyclists and gently strolling families on the Water of Leith Walkway had a sense of purpose and a real feeling of discovery when we spotted them. Just standing there, gently rusting in the sunshine.
I think my favourite definition of art is Ian Hamilton Findlay’s: “Art is a small adjustment.” It fits Gormley’s figures beautifully. He casts the figure and leaves nature to make the small adjustment. The rust is a touch of genius. And maybe the bikini was too.
Rust in peace near the Modern Art Gallery: thanks to Tommy and Ray for the pictures. And Tommy for the heading too.
June 23rd, 2010
Job schemes for the young have taken the first big hit in George Osborne’s deficit reduction cuts. It’s dogma over common sense
Another gorgeous day. I haven’t switched on the radio yet because I can’t quite bear to hear what less than gorgeous George is doing to the economic climate of the country. Is this going to be a fair budget. Or even a sane budget. Is it hell.
Since early morning the sun has been beaming into the back garden. On days like this Edinburgh could be much further south. But there’s an eery feeling in the air that the chancellor will deepen his freeze on the future of the young today.
On Saturday I had a reminder why Edinburgh feels such a long way from Westminster. Scotland truly is a different country when it comes to politics.
Rory Bremner has changed the tone of dinner party debates for ever ( I find it hard to rant with a glass in my hand without hearing myself sound unnervingly like Pauline McLynn and John Bird is right beside me). Even so, the evening’s conversation about the pending cuts perhaps indicates why the LibDems lost so many Edinburgh seats in the last general election. And why there is only one Tory MP in Scotland.
Of the teachers, lawyers, third sector employees, journalists, business men and social workers, most of the people in the room were probably among the UK’s higher paid earners ( bearing in mind if you are earning more than £45,000 per year you are in the top ten per cent) and whatever Osborne may say its the lower paid that will be worst hit today.
Not one person round the table had voted Tory. Only one poor soul had voted LibDem and he was mighty disillusioned – “I doubt if the LibDems will still be around to vote for in five years time.” The rest of us – however reluctantly – voted Labour and for a slower (though still recklessly fast) reduction of the national debt.
Let’s put that another way. Not one person in the room had voted for the unnecessary cuts George Osborne is about to inflict on the UK.
I wander round the garden, deadheading summer blooms disconsolately. A mile or so down the road I know of voluntary organisations who could give Osborne a short sharp lesson in belt tightening – they are running marathons, recycling phones and generally working all hours to raise money rather than reduce services.
Further south turkeys seem to be voting for Christmas. Today’s Guardian reports a poll showing 59% cautiously support the idea of cuts. David Blanchflower’s blog provides cautionary sanity. Blanchflower was the only member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee who foresaw the credit crunch and disagreed with the policy of the rest of the MPC. It looks horribly as if he will be able to say I told you so once again.
June 22nd, 2010
Public space for people
Sunday lunchtime. The sun is shining, the pan pipes are playing and the waiter is serving sea food and pink wine at the table next to us. If you shut your eyes you might be in a typical street cafe in a typical European town centre. And of course that’s where we are. Since Edinburgh is now asking residents for comments on how to improve their public space they might take a few tips on going European from their old rival Glasgow.
There’s a buzz about Buchanan Street which you won’t find in Princes Street or George Street and the difference has absolutely nothing to do with tram works. The secret of success in Glasgow’s shopping centre is giving people room to move. Or in other words, getting rid of cars.
Sitting under Rogano’s umbrella you can hear voices in the air and feet on the street because there is no incessant rumble of traffic. Admittedly Glasgow has done some crazy things, not least driving a bloody great motorway through the centre of the city (maybe one day it will follow the example of other world cities and dig up the M8). But it is miles ahead of Scotland’s capital when it comes to pedestrianisation.
For some pigheaded reason Edinburgh retailers have almost always opposed moves to create pedestrian shopping areas (Multrees Walk is the exception). And where cars are technically prohibited from driving you may be sure to find them parked by pavements where other cities might place cafe tables and seats.
Cars polluting ‘pedestrian’ space in Castle Street – where’s the cafe culture?
I feel depressed every time I walk past Castle Street – with that fantastic view of the castle it could be a great place to open a Rogano style street cafe (come on Oloroso, what’s stopping you?). The Grassmarket is better but there are still too many cars in what could be a great experience of the Old Town.
A barrier of cars in the Grassmarket.
So, it is good to hear that Edinburgh City Council is inviting public opinion about what to do with ‘town centres’ such as Tollcross, Stockbridge, Morningside and Leith.
But I wonder what they will do with the answers. For years good ideas have been collected and then quietly forgotten. Somewhere deep in City Chambers there are plans for Edinburgh city centre drawn up by the urban regeneration guru Jan Gehl, the Danish architect who transformed public space in the cool climate of Copenhagen (his new book Cities for People has just been published).
Much more recently Greener Leith asked local people what would make it easier to move round Leith. Ideas included expanding cycle lanes and cleaning up dog litter. But by far the most popular suggestion was to pedestrianise The Shore (see all the results here).
Lets hope this time the message gets through.
How to transform your town centre? Get rid of the cars.
June 14th, 2010
What’s the news today? To find out, I have several choices. I can scan the latest electronic updates in my inbox; I can flit through Twitter or other social media gatherings in cyberspace; or I can take my newspaper and cup of coffee into the garden and sit in the sun while real birds twitter in the trees.
In the end I do all three. And though it is much more pleasant sitting in the sun, the news is no better in the garden. The Cumbrian killings, Gaza and a pervading sense of economic gloom dominate world and national news.
Inside, on my laptop I find local headlines gleaned from local bloggers and community websites whose news and views are increasingly taking the place of the local newspaper.
But who has time to track all this down? Today, as it happens, I have time to spare since a morning meeting was cancelled – and thanks to two enterprising young (new media) men I can scan local websites with just a couple of clicks. Ally Tibbitt (whose GreenerLeith website won a hyperlocal blog award earlier this year) and Tom Allan Guardian beatblogger are both exploring the potential of crowd sourcing.
As Ally explains on the Edinbuzz home page:
Edinbuzz aims to crowd source news about Edinburgh, and help more people to share news about their neighbourhood.
This is ‘hyperlocal’ news in action. “Hyperlocal sounds like something from Startrek,” says Tommy pithily but it’s an interesting development of citizen journalism and as a former local newspaper hack I have mixed feelings: I am fumbling my way through the maze of social media networks and I badly need a compass.
Like most people I know, I find local newspapers thoroughly depressing. I hate the negative misinformation that masquerades as news. I pity the shrinking workforce of badly paid reporters. I understand the old (paid for) media is struggling to compete with new media freely available online but the newspaper industry cannot restore readership by cutting quality – I know at least one Johnston Press editor who is under severe pressure to cut staff and increase circulation at the same time.
So I congratulate both Tom and Ally on a generous and innovative move to provide better information for local people. But it’s a challenging project. Can unpaid bloggers fill the gap left by local newspapers? How many of us have time, skill and resources to do the rigorous research that produces a good, well-balanced, accurately-informed newspaper story? How do we guard against simply repeating what each other says without checking the facts – wandering around the Hall of Mirrors, as Alan McIntosh of the Spurtle so succinctly put it at the informal gathering of local bloggers organised by Tom Allan last week?
Who has the answers? For now – thanks to Tom’s roundup – I am glad to see that when I catch the train to Glasgow I may soon be able to enjoy free wi-fi, giving me a choice of struggling with a newspaper or opening my laptop to follow the news. Wherever it comes from.
June 4th, 2010