Ce ne sont pas les urinoirs

click photo to enlarge
Anyone familiar with the Modernist work of R.Mutt aka Marcel Duchamp and the Belgian Surrealist, René Magritte, will understand the allusion in today's blog post title. It was the combination of the former's "fountain", that is to say a porcelain urinal signed "R. Mutt", combined with the title of the latter's painting of a pipe, that came to mind when I walked into this red and white men's toilet in a Lincolnshire building.As my eyes took in the cool, pristine white shapes, the astonishing red, and the way they worked together, it became obvious this was intended to be a room that offered an aesthetic experience as well as one that efficiently catered for the bodily needs of its visitors.

As I reflected further it struck me that the sanitaryware manufacturer, Armitage Shanks, had designed the white porcelain urinals (the "Aridian" waterless model no less ) and the intervening modesty screens to be sculptural objects. Not quite art, but craft with pretensions to art, the sort of minimalist work that would complement an avowedly modern building (of the sort in which these were located). One could almost see a collection of these on a black plinth lit by highly directional spotlights in a London gallery. The architect must have had thoughts along these lines because he (or she) had clearly chosen the grid of blood-red wall panels, cubicle dividers and doors to accentuate the stylish shapes. No, I thought, reflecting one more on Duchamp, these were definitely not just utilitarian, bog standard (pun intended) objects; they aspired to be something greater.

By the way, I apologise to any French speaking readers, or anyone who speaks French better than I do - that's most people - if my title mangles the language. It's a combination of my rudimentary skill and Google Translate.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 3200
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On 

Dumped TVs and fanciful imaginings

click photo to enlarge
On a warm and sunny afternoon we had a cycle ride that took us through the flat Fenland landscape in the vicinity of Donington, Lincolnshire. In many areas of Britain the countryside starts to get a slightly unkempt look at the beginning of autumn. Not in the Fens however. This intensively farmed area receives constant attention from man and machine as crops are planted, tended, and harvested, at which point the soil is prepared for the next crop. And, since maximising output is the aim, just about every acre is well-tended and tidy.

So, as I cycled alongside a field where regimented ranks of winter wheat shoots were just starting to appear, you can imagine my surprise at coming upon an old TV resting upright on the carefully manicured soil near the road. What kind of low life would drive into the open country, open their car door and throw an unwanted television down the bank on to a field? Especially when the local council's "amenity sites" (waste dump) will receive and recycle such articles at no charge. Sometimes I despair of the selfish irresponsibility of my fellow citizens.

However, rather than dwell on the disfigurement of the countryside by the oaf who dumped this article I thought I'd see the discarded TV as an "opportunity", and took this photograph. Remembering Marcel Duchamp's dictum that anything can be art as long as it is taken out of context, it occurred to me that the unwanted television was a "ready-made", not unlike his bicycle wheels and urinals, and consequently I pronounce my photograph to be a work of art! I'm thinking that, if I can secure a sponsor to help me develop my theme then today's image will be the first in a series that will comment on the "the condition of mankind." My next image will have a man buried up to his neck in the field with his head inside the TV (screen removed), and arms sticking up to left and right. Then I'll move on to life-sized straw figures standing in the ripe wheat and caught in the act of hurling the TV at an oncoming combine harvester. Yes, that TV has definite possibilities... Or maybe not!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 5.1mm (24mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f4
Shutter Speed: 1/800
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On