Fish on a Lamppost and the loss of public art.

Yeah that will be one of the more out their titles ill ever write, but don't worry you didn't just lose braincells, it does say what you think, and that does indeed imply that fish covered lampposts will teach us about the loss of public art.

Now im sure anyone who's walked down the river Thames in London will already have some notion for what I'm talking about, but for the many who've not had the privilege of that riverside walk, i will explain but first let me give our scene some much needed context.

Alongside the river Thames runs an embankment, much of which is pedestrianised, especially the south bank. The walk along this embankment is gorgeous, in and of itself the view from it is a tourist destination. When the Victorians created it they made sure it was wide and well paved, dotted with benches and trees, so the many could travel with ease through the very heart of the city.

This project was monumental, reclaiming tracts of land from the Thames, interlinking with new sewage systems, and having an impact on a waterway vital to the life of London itself. It was a part of a larger series of infrastructure works which were in short transformative, and still serve London today. So it makes sense that for such a monumental effort, in the very heart of the city, alongside the buildings that housed all the countries politicking power and wealth, they weren't going to cheap out on the lighting.

What is more something new had just arrived in the form of electric lighting, giving even more reason to adorn these lamposts with a kind of craft and decadence normally reserved for the more private sectors shall we say. Tall and wrought in black these light posts see huge fish or dolphins (depending on who you ask) wrapped around the large base of a fluted column, atop which a white globe crowned in further metal sits. They're honestly gorgeous, and quite frankly ridiculously large.

Now the story could conclude here, monumental public works, the adorning of utility in art because that in and of itself enhances the nature of a space and is the interest of the public good, all of which is thinking seemingly lost to time and the lowest bidder.

But there is one more very key point in this tale, which makes the seeming contemporary absence of this form of public work all the more heart wrenching. See the people in charge didn't just decide on a design and build it. The board of the project actually took submissions, they had multiple to consider from well respected architects to artists, sculptures, and engineers. Then they did something I honestly didn't expect when researching these lights, they published a short list in the illustrated press of the day, genuinely seeking public opinion. It wasn't quite an open vote (which honestly I think is smart, its good to balance opinion with knowledge and oversight) but it was something many wouldn't expect of the Victorians, and it is certainly not something I feel would happen today.

Not because London never looks to its citizens opinion on its future form, but because I dont think we would ever care so much for the visual impact of everyday infrastructure to make it something beautiful and welcomed by the people. To treat it as public art worthy of the public opinion and the dedication of craft and resource at the higher levels. Despite the fact that we have to live with our infrastructures face everyday, despite the fact that we have far more knowledge than the Victorians did on the impact of our surroundings on our mental health, we no longer see fit to ask the majority what they think of its form, nor dedicate to it much thought at all beyond efficiency.

Whilst the pragmatist in me respects that, it is sad to think of what we have lost in the cost analyse of construction. I know each time I walk the Thames I appreciate these adorned lampposts, they make me feel like a I am walking through the pages of a book, the city becomes almost fictious in tis grandeur. To know that came about with the input of the many, not just the few makes it all the more beautiful.